From the Andrews Air Force Base Welcome to “Panda Diplomacy”: Key Moments of the U.S.-China Summit
It reports on the three-day state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the United States. During the visit, President Trump and the First Lady held high-level welcoming ceremonies at Joint Base Andrews and the White House. The two sides held talks and attended a state dinner. The outcomes of the visit include the extension of the trade truce, continued cooperation in artificial intelligence and counter-narcotics, and the announcement that two giant pandas, Pingping and Fushuang, will settle at the Atlanta Zoo.
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On September 23, President Trump and First Lady Melania personally went to Joint Base Andrews near Washington to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan upon their arrival for a three-day state visit. This marks the first time an American president has personally gone to Joint Base Andrews to welcome a visiting dignitary since President Obama welcomed Pope Francis in 2015.
On the second day, President Trump and the First Lady welcomed Xi Jinping and his wife again at the White House. Approximately 479 U.S. service members participated in the welcoming ceremony, which featured a 21-gun salute and a military review on-site. A B-2 bomber and four F-22 fighter jets subsequently flew over the White House. In his welcoming remarks, President Trump moved from wartime cooperation between the U.S. and China during World War II to a Chinese term still in use today, and from stories of wartime collaboration, President Trump turned to the artificial intelligence issues facing both countries today.
Following the welcoming ceremony, the two leaders held talks at the White House. First Lady Melania accompanied Peng Liyuan to visit the National Museum of Asian Art of the Smithsonian Institution, where students from a local Chinese school sang "Jasmine Flower." That evening, President Trump and the First Lady hosted a state dinner in the East Room of the White House. The 132-guest list released by the White House included American tech and business figures such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Jensen Huang. The state dinner featured an appropriate amount of Schramsberg blanc de noirs sparkling wine, paying tribute to the historic peace toast held by President Nixon and Premier Zhou Enlai in Beijing in 1972. At the state dinner, President Trump highly praised U.S.-China relations and presented Xi Jinping with a bald eagle statue.
On September 25, the final day of the visit, President Trump and First Lady Melania invited Xi Jinping and his wife to a tea reception in the Red Room of the White House, followed by a visit to the U.S. National Archives to view the founding documents of the United States, including the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. At the conclusion of the three-day visit, the U.S. and China announced a series of outcomes, including extending the trade truce and continuing cooperation in areas such as artificial intelligence and counter-narcotics, while some long-standing differences between the two countries remain. One outcome of this summit has already been implemented: during his visit, Xi Jinping announced that two giant pandas, Pingping and Fushuang, will settle at the Atlanta Zoo. Just three days after Xi Jinping left the United States, on September 27, the two giant pandas arrived in the U.S.