Senator Wicker criticizes Xi’s reception in Washington — The Hill

In the United States, Republican Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi criticized the planned visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington and the format of his reception by President Donald Trump. Speaking in the Senate, Wicker said he would not advise the White House to invite the Chinese leader to the capital for such a ceremonial reception, The Hill reports.

Meeting in Washington

According to the outlet, Trump was to meet Xi Jinping at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday. The following day, the U.S. president and First Lady Melania Trump planned to host a state dinner at the White House for the Chinese leader and his wife, Peng Liyuan.

The summit was to become the first in-person meeting between Trump and Xi since May. The talks were planned amid U.S.-China competition for leadership in artificial intelligence and less than two months before the trade truce between the countries was set to expire on November 10.

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The senator’s calls

Wicker, who chairs the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, explained his position by citing issues he associates with Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party. The senator urged Trump to raise China’s support for Iran, the situation of Uyghur Muslims, and the persecution of Tibetan Buddhists, Christians, and Falun Gong practitioners during the talks.

In particular, Wicker said that more than one million Uyghurs had been sent to camps in China’s Xinjiang region and urged the U.S. president to use the visit to defend their rights. At the same time, he acknowledged the appropriateness of discussing trade and artificial intelligence and noted that the talks could yield some results.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC the day before that Washington and Beijing were considering the possibility of reducing tariffs on goods not considered critically important.