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Donald Trump is currently in China to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping for high-stakes talks. He's expected to discuss the ongoing war in Iran, trade relations and the future of Taiwan with China – a country that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said is “our top political challenge.”
The president has only been there for a matter of hours. However, critics online have already claimed that Trump has already been ‘ignored’.
Commentators focused first on Trump’s arrival in China, with some claiming that he was ‘snubbed’ at the airport with President Xi Jinping choosing not to meet with him there.
Mary L Trump, a political commentator who is the niece of Donald Trump, wrote: “Xi couldn't be bothered to meet Donald at the airport because he understands as well as Donald does that humiliating your underlings is a great way to keep them in check.”
The Call to Activism account also posted about the airport arrival and wrote: “MAGA is in spin mode heralding the ‘red carpet treatment,’ but the visit is already at a rocky start.”
Despite this, an expert actually suggested that it was an 'upgrade' from Trump's 2017 visit.
“It’s actually quite revealing from a protocol perspective,” said Isabelle Vladoiu, founder of the US Institute of Diplomacy and Human Rights [via Sky News].
“Xi Jinping did not personally greet Trump at the airport in 2017 either, but this time Beijing noticeably upgraded the reception by sending Vice President Han Zheng along with both ambassadors and senior foreign affairs officials.”
Vladoiu added: “In 2017, Trump was greeted by Yang Jiechi who was a senior official and state councilor but not as high rank as the vice president. China is signaling therefore that this visit carries greater strategic and geopolitical weight than before.”
Later, others focused on a moment where Trump shook XI’s hand – with XI appearing to not react to what he’s saying.
Some claimed Xi ignored him, with one account writing: "Trump Trying to communicate with Xi, who ignores him completely."
It comes after Trump sparked widespread anger after making comments about the American people, saying that he ‘doesn't think about Americans' financial situations’ at all when considering next steps in Iran.
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