Trump and Xi Jinping are preparing for a face-to-face meeting in Beijing. What the media is writing

In the coming days, a summit will be held in Beijing with the participation of US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The head of the White House intends to persuade the Chinese leader to help end the war in Iran and resolve the energy crisis. Beijing also intends to raise the issue of the status of Taiwan, to which the United States has promised large shipments of weapons. What the world's media expect from the meeting of the two leaders is in the Izvestia digest.

Bloomberg: Trump to meet with Xi Jinping at important U.S.-China summit

According to the White House, US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will meet on the morning of May 14 in Beijing for a summit where trade and the war in Iran will be the main topics of discussion. This trip will be the first visit by a U.S. president to China in almost a decade and will take place at a time when the leaders of the world's two largest economies are trying to resolve a number of bilateral issues and tensions arising from the Middle East conflict.

On May 11, Trump announced that he would discuss with his Chinese counterpart the sale of American weapons to Taiwan. Since 1979, American law has required Washington to maintain the island's ability to defend itself, including through the sale of weapons. During a telephone conversation earlier this year, Xi Jinping urged the head of the White House to approach such sales with caution after the United States approved an arms package to Taiwan worth $11 billion in December.

CNN: how the war with Iran can weaken Trump's position in his confrontation with Xi Jinping

Trump's summit with Xi Jinping is a culminating event designed to showcase the president's indelible mark on world history. But while the Chinese celebrations will present him as a respected statesman, this visit will also show how some of Trump's decisions, including the war with Iran that he cannot end, risk undermining his authority and America's might. The unstable global situation, deliberately created by the American president, will make the venue for this summit unlike any meeting between the leaders of the United States and China since President Richard Nixon brought China to the world stage in the 1970s.

The president's failure to win a clear victory in Iran and the catastrophic global economic consequences of his war also raise new questions about U.S. power that China may try to exploit. Iran's latest refusal to conclude a deal belies its claims that Tehran is about to give up. The confrontation of a lesser power in the face of US power makes him look personally weakened. Any diplomatic assistance that China offers on this issue is likely to be accompanied by conditions related to trade or even an issue that Beijing considers vital: its sovereignty claims over Taiwan.

Reuters: Trump heads to China, needing victories

A year ago, Trump predicted that huge trade duties would put America's main economic rival in its place. He's heading to China this week, but his ambitions have been somewhat blunted by court rulings that have narrowed his goals to several bean, beef, and Boeing aircraft deals to enlist Chinese help to resolve the unpopular war with Iran.

After their last brief meeting at an airbase in South Korea, where Trump suspended triple-digit tariffs on Chinese goods and Xi Jinping abandoned attempts to limit global supplies of rare earths, China has quietly increased its arsenal of economic pressure tools on Washington. At the same time, the US president was busy fighting the decisions of the American courts against the duties he imposed and the war with Iran, which undermined his approval rating ahead of the midterm elections in November.

The New York Times: Xi Jinping is ready to put pressure on Trump on the issue of arms sales to Taiwan

For decades, the US position on Taiwan has been based on a complex system of policies aimed at supporting democracy on the island, while avoiding official recognition of it as an independent state, which would anger Beijing. Many in Taiwan are holding their breath in anticipation of what might happen to this fragile structure when Trump, with his improvised, pragmatic manner, meets with Xi Jinping. It seems that the Chinese leader is ready to lecture Trump on US support for Taiwan, especially on the sale of weapons.

Xi Jinping's main goal in discussing Taiwan is likely to be to convince Trump to slow down or eventually reduce U.S. arms sales to the island. The White House approved an $11 billion arms sale late last year, prompting condemnation from Beijing, which quickly conducted two days of military exercises near Taiwan. Another arms package worth about $14 billion is awaiting final approval from Trump, who has been delaying a decision for several months.

Talking about the Middle East: Russia is ready to help the United States and Iran break the deadlock

Moscow's experience is in demand, but the settlement is still in limbo.

Associated Press: Trump and Xi Jinping do not want disagreements over Iran to overshadow the summit

Trump is scheduled to travel to Beijing on May 12 for a meeting with Xi Jinping after weeks of unsuccessful attempts to persuade the Chinese government to use its considerable leverage to push Iran to agree to U.S. terms to end the two—month war - or at least reopen the critically important Strait of Hormuz.

Instead, the administration seems determined not to let disagreements over Iran overshadow efforts to move forward on other complex issues of this uneasy relationship, from trade to China's continued cooperation in blocking exports of fentanyl precursors. Both Trump and Xi Jinping are probably trying to avoid creating gloomy economic prospects, as happened last year when both powers seemed to be on the verge of a large-scale trade war.