President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet face to face this week to confront issues testing the United States-China relationship.
President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet face to face this week to confront issues testing the United States-China relationship – a relationship Secretary of State Marco Rubio said will define the 21st century.
Speaking from the Senate floor Tuesday, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said if the White House had asked for his input, he'd have told the Trump administration he thought it was a mistake to host Xi in Washington.
"But Mr. President, during every minute of dialogue, our commander in chief should keep in mind that his guest is a brutal, unelected, and oppressive dictator who seeks to dominate his neighbors and whose massive military arsenal is aimed directly at the United States of America," Wicker said.
Rubio defended the decision, calling it "responsible statecraft."
Trump has faced growing calls to prioritize AI safety during the summit. The two countries are competing for AI dominance and Trump has made it clear that his top priority is beating China, even as some in the tech industry and lawmakers of both parties call for government safety rules to ensure humans maintain control of AI models.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a vocal advocate for bipartisan AI safety legislation, urged Trump to reverse his course on export controls to protect the United States' competitive edge.
“Trump is currently giving away our greatest advantage in the AI race by greenlighting the sale of advanced AI chips to China. China’s always been desperate to get our AI chips, that they have set up elaborate ways to smuggle them, something the Trump administration has failed to stop and has only made easier for them to acquire," Schumer said.
Ahead of Xi's arrival, the only proposal to come out of the White House is an AI-dedicated crisis hotline so the two countries can coordinate in the event of an AI-related incident. Industry leaders like OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang are expected to attend the White House's state dinner Thursday. Altman's company has called for the United States to lead the world in AI safety standards; Huang argued existing laws are adequate.
The Iran war will add another layer of tension to Xi's visit. Beijing publicly disapproved of the Trump administration's new sanctions against Iran, calling them illegal.
Trump may confront Xi about China enabling Iran. According to a recent report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, "China has provided significant economic, technological, and diplomatic support that has helped Iran mitigate international sanctions, sustain oil exports, and acquire dual-use technologies necessary for Iran’s drones, ballistic missiles, and other weapons."
