By Danny Kemp
Chinese President Xi Jinping warned his US counterpart Donald Trump that missteps on Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict”, a stark opening salvo as they met in Beijing on Thursday at a superpower summit.
Trump had arrived in China with accolades for his host, calling Xi a “great leader” and “friend”, as he predicted that their countries would have “a fantastic future together”.
But beyond the pomp as he welcomed Trump, Xi in less effusive tones said the two sides “should be partners and not rivals”, while highlighting the issue of self-ruled democratic Taiwan — which Beijing claims as its territory — straight off the bat.
“The Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-US relations,” Xi said, according to remarks published by Chinese state media shortly after talks began.
“If mishandled, the two nations could collide or even come into conflict, pushing the entire China-US relationship into a highly perilous situation,” he added at the opening talks that lasted around two hours and 15 minutes.
Trump’s trip to Beijing is the first by a US president in nearly a decade, with the grand reception belying a host of unresolved trade and geopolitical tensions between the two countries.
Xi greeted Trump with a red-carpet welcome at the opulent Great Hall of the People, with military band fanfare, a gun salute and a host of schoolchildren jumping and chanting “welcome!”.
Seemingly enjoying the ceremony, Trump said “the relationship between China and the USA is going to be better than ever before”.
Xi instead referenced an ancient Greek political theory about the risks of war when a rising power rivals a ruling power.
“Can China and the United States transcend the so-called ‘Thucydides Trap’ and forge a new paradigm for major-power relations,” Xi asked, adding that “cooperation benefits both sides, while confrontation harms both”.
There has been plenty of the latter since Trump’s last visit in 2017, with the two countries having spent much of 2025 embroiled in a dizzying trade war and at odds on many major global issues.
Taiwan is a longstanding sore point.
The United States recognises only Beijing but under domestic law is required to provide weapons to Taiwan so that it can defend itself.
China has sworn to take the self-ruled democracy and has not ruled out using force, ramping up military pressure in recent years.
Following Xi’s comments on Thursday, Taipei called China the “sole risk” to regional peace, and insisted that “the US side has repeatedly reaffirmed its clear and firm support”.
But Trump said Monday he would speak to Xi about US arms sales to Taiwan, a departure from historic US insistence that it will not consult Beijing on the matter.
Adam Ni, editor of newsletter China Neican, told AFP that while such “blunt language” was not uncommon in Chinese foreign policy, it was unusual coming from Xi himself.
“Xi wants to make it very clear… he thinks the Taiwan issue is the potential powder keg between the two superpowers,” Ni added.
China has been “signalling a desire for US compromise on Taiwan in the lead up to the summit,” the National University of Singapore’s Chong Ja Ian told AFP.
Xi’s demand could suggest “they see some opportunity to convince Trump”, he said.
A new addition to the list of contentious issues to be discussed, the Iran war, threatens to weaken Trump’s position, having already forced him to postpone his trip from March.
The US president said he expected a “long talk” with Xi about Iran, which sells most of its US-sanctioned oil to China, but insisted that “I don’t think we need any help” from Beijing.
However, his secretary of state Marco Rubio, historically a fierce opponent of Beijing, said the US side was hoping “to convince (China) to play a more active role”.
Trump is also hoping for business deals on agriculture, aircraft and other sectors.
Elite businessmen in his delegation, including Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and Tesla’s Elon Musk, were on the stairs of the Great Hall of the People on Thursday for the welcome ceremony.
Musk told reporters afterwards the meeting had been “wonderful”, while Huang said the two presidents “were incredible”.
Xi later told the delegation that his country’s “doors to the outside world will open wider and wider” and that US companies would enjoy “even brighter prospects in China”.
On the eve of the summit, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng met in South Korea to seek progress in ending a long-simmering trade war between the two.
Xi said the talks “reached results that were generally balanced and positive”, and urged both sides to “safeguard the current hard-won positive momentum”.
Trump and Xi are set to discuss extending a one-year tariff truce reached during their last meeting in South Korea in October.
China’s controls on rare earth exports and AI rivalry are among other topics expected to be taken up.
After their morning meeting, the two men took a break from negotiations, heading to the Temple of Heaven, a World Heritage site where China’s emperors once prayed for good harvests.
The two will return to the Great Hall of the People this evening for a state banquet.
Political and religious leaders in Northern Ireland saw early Wednesday morning — with the embers of a long night of violence in Belfast and other parts of the region still smoldering — that their calls for calm had fallen on deaf ears. Cars, buses, phone booths, and trash cans set ablaze. Homes where immigrants — or simply people from ethnic minorities — were believed to live, completely engulfed in flames after violent groups targeted them as places that needed to be “liberated.”
© Peter Morrison (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
NEW YORK, June 12— Few business leaders have been as deeply embedded in popular culture as Elon Musk, the ambitious entrepreneur who has become a central figure in internet culture and amassed a fortune that has made him the world's first trillionaire.
At a time when concerns about inequality are high and public attitudes toward the ultra-wealthy have soured, Musk has managed to retain a loyal following despite his stratospheric net worth and without the folksy persona that endeared other tycoons such as Warren Buffett to the masses.
While admirers view Musk's no-filter style as part of his appeal, critics have accused him of wielding oligarch-like power, raised concerns about governance at his companies and objected to his increasingly partisan political interventions.
Still, SpaceX, the sprawling rocket, satellite and AI company that together with electric-car maker Tesla form the center of Musk's empire, raised a record US$75 billion in its initial public offering yesterday, highlighting investor enthusiasm for his business ventures.
Prior to the share sale, Forbes pegged his net worth at roughly US$780 billion, far ahead of the man next in line, Alphabet co-founder Larry Page.
"The second richest person has been hovering around US$300 billion, so about less than one-third of what Musk can potentially be worth tomorrow," said Matt Durot, deputy editor at Forbes Wealth.
"And only one other person, (Oracle founder) Larry Ellison, has ever been worth US$400 billion.”
Most of Musk's wealth now rests with SpaceX, where he holds a stake worth roughly US$866 billion.
Along with Tesla and the rest of his properties, his net worth will exceed US$1.1 trillion when the stock begins trading Friday, according to Forbes and Reuters calculations based on company filings.
Musk became a household name through Tesla and SpaceX before expanding his influence with the US$44-billion acquisition of social media platform Twitter in 2022.
The deal gave him a direct channel to hundreds of millions of users and made him a prominent voice on issues ranging from politics and immigration to government spending and free speech.
His move into politics, particularly his role in U.S. President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency last year, has been among his most contentious ventures.
The political fallout coincided with weakening Tesla sales in several international markets in 2025 as protests and consumer boycotts targeted the electric vehicle maker.
The Elon premium
Musk, 54, was born in Pretoria, South Africa, to a Canadian mother and South African father. He attended the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1997.
He took over as Tesla's CEO in 2008 with the conviction that electric vehicles could combine high performance with software-driven features, helping redefine the global automotive industry.
Some auto-industry watchers say Tesla’s success - and its trillion-dollar-plus market cap - helped prod traditional automakers to pivot to electric cars.
Many investors are betting he can repeat the feat in space and artificial intelligence. Yet SpaceX remains cash-hungry, and much of the company's valuation rests on technologies that may take years or decades to become commercially viable.
Beyond Tesla and SpaceX, Musk has co-founded five other companies, including tunneling startup The Boring Company and brain implant maker Neuralink.
As CEO of Tesla, Musk has courted controversy and praise in equal measure. He is credited with turning Tesla into the world's most valuable automaker.
Executives at legacy automakers dismissed the threat for years, skeptical that a startup car company could figure out how to mass produce electric vehicles profitably.
"He renewed the world's respect for American ingenuity in automotive engineering,” said Bob Lutz, a former General Motors vice chairman.
At the same time, Tesla has faced legal challenges and shareholder concerns tied to its storied CEO, particularly his 2018 pay package, once worth US$56 billion.
Musk's influence has become so pervasive that market observers have dubbed the network of businesses around him the "Muskonomy."
The phenomenon has given rise to what some investors call the "Elon premium," a valuation boost driven as much by faith in Musk's vision as by traditional financial metrics.
"Much like Tesla, SpaceX is a bet on Elon Musk," said Matt Kennedy, senior strategist at Renaissance Capital, a provider of IPO-focused research and ETFs.
"A market cap of US$1.5 trillion-US$2 trillion would certainly throw all traditional valuation methodologies out the window, and is instead best characterized as the 'Elon Musk premium.'"
Musk unfiltered
The concentration of influence around a single entrepreneur has amplified concerns about corporate governance, conflicts of interest and the risks of tying company fortunes too closely to one individual.
Over the years, Musk has turned clashes with regulators, billionaires, short sellers, journalists and media organizations, including Reuters, into recurring public battles that often unfolded on social media.
Musk's alliance with Trump followed a familiar pattern. After helping bankroll Trump's return to the White House and serving in a senior advisory role through the administration's DOGE initiative, Musk became one of the president's closest corporate allies.
The relationship later fractured amid disagreements over policy and spending, spilling into a public feud.
Though the two have since struck a more conciliatory tone, their falling-out highlighted the increasingly blurred lines between Musk's business empire and political ambitions.
Yet for many investors, concerns about Musk's often unconventional behavior are outweighed by his track record of turning ambitious ideas into some of the world's most valuable companies.
"Elon is the Edison of our time," JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said during a recent conversation with Musk.
The banker, a former adversary of Musk in a prolonged legal battle, has since become an admirer. Dimon told CNBC last year that the pair had "hugged it out," and hailed Musk as "our Einstein." — Reuters
A friend is upset because you didn’t “like” a photo from her last trip, but the truth is you haven’t even had a chance to see it. Instead of displaying it on your feed, Instagram prioritized showing you ads for food.
© NurPhoto (NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The biggest trial over artificial intelligence of the century has ended quietly, with very little fanfare. Elon Musk lost, and OpenAI won easily. Above all, because the jury found Musk’s lawsuit had been filed too late. It was barred by the statute of limitations. Neither the jury nor the judge went on to assess Musk’s complaint. It’s as if the World Cup final never gets played because one team can’t show up: someone is declared the winner, but no one knows whether they actually deserved it. These are the key takeaways:
© Vicki Behringer (REUTERS)
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