Donald Trump touts 'very good' call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, discussing trade, Taiwan, Ukraine

US President Donald Trump says he has held a “very good” phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping during which the leaders discussed the war in Ukraine, fentanyl trafficking and a deal for farmers.

“We have done a good, and very important, deal for our Great Farmers - and it will only get better. Our relationship with China is extremely strong!,” he said in a Truth Social post.

Mr Trump also said he had accepted President Xi’s invitation to visit China in April and that Xi would visit the US later in the year.

The phone call came nearly a month after the two men met in person in the South Korean city of Busan.

China’s foreign ministry, which announced the phone call first, said nothing about the state visits but said that the two leaders discussed trade, Taiwan and Ukraine.

President Xi told Mr Trump in the phone call on Monday that Taiwan’s return to mainland China is “an integral part of the post-war international order” and he expressed hope for a “fair, lasting and binding peace agreement” over Ukraine, according to the Chinese Government.

The conversation came after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi recently said Japan’s military could get involved if China were to take action against Taiwan, the self-governing island that officials in Beijing say must come under its rule.

Chinese officials, who in the past always pointed out that their leader picked up the call “upon request,” did not say such for Monday’s call.

“That means China called Trump,” said Sun Yun, director of the China program at the US-based think tank Stimson Center.

“My best guest is China is worried about the escalation (in tensions) with Japan. The reference to Taiwan and the post-WWII order directly points to the spat with Japan over Taiwan,” Sun Yun said.

with AP