Beijing Urges US to Avoid ‘Red Lines’ Before Trump–Xi Summit

Hours before the summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Beijing called on Washington to avoid four issues the communist regime considers taboo.

Taiwan, democracy and human rights, China’s political system, and the right to development are Beijing’s four “red lines,” Xie Feng, the regime’s ambassador to the United States, said in an article published in the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) state newspaper People’s Daily on Wednesday.

Xie urged the United States to work with China to achieve what he called “peaceful coexistence.”

The Chinese diplomat’s comments came less than a day before Trump was set to host Xi at the White House. China’s foreign ministry said Xi departed Beijing on Wednesday afternoon local time for a state visit to the United States.

The CCP has long labeled these topics as very sensitive, warning that mishandling them could inflame tensions between the world’s two largest economies. In 2024, when Xi met with then-U.S. President Joe Biden in Peru, he described Beijing’s four “red lines” as something that Washington should not challenge, according to China’s readout of the meeting.

Steve Yates, a China expert and former national security official in the George W. Bush administration, interpreted Beijing’s warning as evidence of its lack of confidence in addressing the sensitive topics.

“The PRC is not a great power. CCP mouthpiece says don’t press Xi” on any of these issues, Yates said on X, using the acronym of the regime’s official name, People’s Republic of China.

China expert and commentator Gordon Chang went further, questioning the purpose of the high-level reengagement.

“Once you rule out the topics China has said are ‘red lines,’ there’s no point in holding a summit,” Chang said on X.

The White House has said that Trump is expected to raise human rights issues when he sits down with Xi in Washington.

During his May visit to Beijing, Trump discussed the detention cases directly with Xi, including that of Pastor Ezra Jin, the leader of the most prominent underground church in China. The pastor was subsequently released and reunited with his family in Los Angeles on July 4.

In recent weeks, appeals have grown for the Trump administration to get tough with the CCP to win the release of unjustly detained Americans and other political prisoners.

The latest call was from UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who raised Beijing’s detention of Jimmy Lai, a British citizen and Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigner, during his first face-to-face meeting with Trump on Tuesday.

According to Burnham’s office, the prime minister reiterated the need for Lai’s immediate release.

A vocal critic of the CCP, Lai has been kept behind bars in Hong Kong for more than five years. He is one of the first pro-democracy advocates arrested under the draconian national security law, which Beijing imposed on Hong Kong in 2020 following months of rights protests.

In February, a Hong Kong court handed down a 20-year prison term to 78-year-old Lai.

Trump had already spoken with Xi about releasing Lai. After bringing up the publisher’s case in mid-May, Trump said Xi told him it was “a tough one.”