AP
Washington
President Donald Trump is taking Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit the National Archives on Friday, showing off the sacred texts of US democracy to the leader of the world’s most powerful communist country to cap off a three-day state visit criticised for being heavy on pomp and light on substance.
Xi is expected to depart Washington after touring the nation’s vault of records, where the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are held. The two leaders have made a show of working to preserve harmony between the world’s two largest economies, though there were no major breakthroughs on issues such as trade or the safety of artificial intelligence.
Xi said he expects to meet Trump two more times this year. Xi extended an invite for Trump and his wife, Melania, to go to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China, in November. He noted that they could meet again a month later at the G20 summit at the Trump National Doral Miami golf club in Florida.
“We do welcome Mr President and the first lady to visit China,” Xi said. Trump responded, “We will, and we’ll be speaking a lot.”
Trump, a Republican, has been seeking to demonise Democrats as communists during the run-up to the November midterm elections, a message that has been muddied by the red-carpet treatment he has given Xi this week.
The visit comes as the US celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, and Trump said Thursday that he wanted to show Xi “some of the greatest treasures of that proud history.”
The two leaders also met behind closed doors for 90 minutes on Thursday, when they discussed issues such as the Middle East, Ukraine and the Korean Peninsula, according to the official Chinese government readout of the meeting. The White House has not provided any information about the private talks.
