Beijing Summit Day Two: Boeing Disappointment, Taiwan Warning, and a Deal on Iran

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The Boeing Deal: A Win With an Asterisk

The headline economic announcement of the summit was a Chinese commitment to purchase 200 Boeing jets — the first significant aircraft order from China since Trump's last Beijing visit in November 2017, when Beijing agreed to buy 300 planes.

Trump announced the deal himself on Fox News Thursday evening. "One thing he agreed to today — he's going to order 200 jets. 200 big ones," Trump said, referring to Xi.

Wall Street was not impressed. Boeing shares fell more than four percent on the news. The reason is straightforward: ahead of the summit, sources familiar with the talks had told Reuters that negotiations were targeting a package of up to 500 Boeing 737 MAX jets, plus dozens of widebody aircraft — potentially the largest single airplane order in aviation history. What was announced came in at less than half that number, with no details yet on aircraft type, delivery timeline, or which Chinese airline would actually operate them.

"It's possible we still get more orders this trip, but right now investors are interpreting this as being less than hoped for," said Matt Akers, an aerospace investment analyst at BNP Paribas.

The context matters here. Analysts have long noted that Beijing uses aircraft orders as diplomatic instruments — purchase commitments made during summits often reflect the political temperature as much as commercial reality. The actual operator of the planes is frequently unclear until close to delivery. China also remains in parallel talks with European rival Airbus, which has outpaced Boeing in Chinese deliveries every year since 2018 and operates an A320 assembly plant in Tianjin.

China needs to order as many as 9,000 new jetliners by 2045 to meet projected travel demand. The 200-jet deal is a beginning — not the breakthrough Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg had been counting on when he joined Trump's delegation.

Taiwan: Xi's Sharp Warning Behind Closed Doors

Behind the ceremonial warmth of the state banquet — where Xi declared the U.S.-China relationship "the most important in the world" and said "we must make it work and never mess it up" — a sharper message was delivered in private.

In a closed-door session that ran more than two hours, Xi warned Trump directly that mishandling the Taiwan issue could send relations spiraling into conflict. China's foreign ministry confirmed the warning was issued.

Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing claims as part of its territory, lies just 80 kilometers off the Chinese coast. China has never ruled out the use of military force to take control of it. The United States is legally obligated to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, despite the absence of formal diplomatic ties.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking to NBC News from Beijing, kept the U.S. position deliberate and firm. "Taiwan was discussed. The Chinese always raise it. We always make clear our position, and we move on to the other topics." He added: "U.S. policy on the issue of Taiwan is unchanged as of today."

Trump, for his part, did not respond when reporters asked about Taiwan during the photo session with Xi at the Temple of Heaven. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told Bloomberg Television that the Taiwan issue should not derail progress on trade.

For readers who want deeper context on the history of U.S.-China tensions over Taiwan — from the 1950s strait crises to last December's record $11-billion arms package — we covered it in our earlier overview: Trump in Beijing: The High-Stakes Summit That Could Reshape the World.

Iran and the Strait of Hormuz: Pragmatism, Not a Pledge

On the Iran question — the issue Trump came to Beijing most urgently needing help with — the summit produced something more nuanced than a commitment, but more substantive than silence.

U.S. Trade Representative Greer told Bloomberg Television on Friday that Chinese officials had made clear during the talks that Beijing wants to see the Strait of Hormuz reopen without restrictions or tolls. "It's really important for China to have the Strait of Hormuz open, no tolling, no military control, and that was clear from the meeting. So we welcome that," Greer said.

On the question of Chinese military and material support for Iran, Greer was carefully optimistic. "The Chinese are being very pragmatic. They don't want to be on the wrong side of this. They want to see peace in that area." He added that Washington has "a lot of confidence" Beijing will do what it can to limit support for Tehran.

The White House readout of Thursday's full meeting highlighted what it described as a shared desire to reopen the strait, and flagged Xi's expressed interest in purchasing U.S. oil as a way to reduce China's dependence on Middle Eastern energy supplies — a detail notably absent from any Chinese state media summaries of the same meeting.

As we reported yesterday in First Day Results From Beijing, that gap between the two sides' public accounts is itself revealing: what Washington is eager to announce, Beijing is in no hurry to confirm.

The bottom line on Iran: China is signaling it wants the war to end and the waterway reopened — a position driven by its own economic self-interest. What it will not do, at least not publicly, is announce that it is applying decisive pressure on Tehran or cutting off support for its most important Middle Eastern partner.

Jimmy Lai: A Plea Without Resolution

Trump raised the case of Jimmy Lai — the Hong Kong media tycoon and founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily, sentenced in February to 20 years in prison on charges of colluding with foreign forces — directly with Xi. Rubio confirmed this to NBC News.

"The president always raises that case and a couple others, and obviously we'll hope to get a positive response from that," Rubio said. "We'd be open to any arrangement that would work for them, as long as he's given his freedom."

China's position has not moved. Beijing has consistently maintained that Hong Kong affairs are an internal matter. There was no indication from either side that any concrete progress was made on Lai's release or on that of other political prisoners, including Pastor Jin Mingri, whose case Trump had also said he would raise.

Lai's conviction stands as one of the most visible symbols of the CCP's systematic dismantling of Hong Kong's promised freedoms — and a reminder that behind the trade deals and diplomatic pleasantries of this summit, the regime's repression of dissent continues uninterrupted.

The Trade Framework: Work in Progress

Beyond Boeing, U.S. Trade Representative Greer confirmed that progress was made on establishing mechanisms to manage future bilateral trade — the so-called "Board of Trade" framework, under which both sides are expected to identify roughly $30 billion worth of non-sensitive goods on which tariffs could be reduced.

Greer also confirmed deals were firmed up on Chinese purchases of U.S. farm goods, beef, and Boeing aircraft. Xi told Trump that trade negotiations had reached "balanced and positive outcomes" — without specifying what those outcomes were.

Critically, Greer said it remains undecided whether the existing trade truce — struck last October when Trump suspended triple-digit tariffs on Chinese goods and Xi backed away from restricting rare earth exports — will be formally extended when it expires later this year. That uncertainty alone will keep markets watchful in the weeks ahead.

What the Summit Delivered — and What It Didn't

When Trump boards Air Force One on Friday afternoon and heads back to Washington, he leaves Beijing with a handful of tangible results: a 200-jet Boeing order, agricultural deal signals, a shared statement on the Strait of Hormuz, and the beginnings of an AI safety framework. Xi, for his part, received reassurances on Taiwan that, while firm in tone, stopped well short of any change in U.S. policy.

What the summit did not deliver: a clear path to ending the Iran war, a firm Chinese commitment to pressure Tehran, any resolution on Jimmy Lai or other political prisoners, or the kind of transformative trade breakthrough that might move Trump's poll numbers ahead of November.

"Hopefully our relationship with China will be stronger and better than ever before!" Trump posted on Truth Social early Friday morning — the kind of optimistic framing his political situation demands.

Whether the harvest from this particular Temple of Heaven visit proves as abundant as both leaders need remains to be seen.

(This is the fifth and final article in our series covering the Trump-Xi Beijing summit. The full series is available on [udumbara.net/news].)

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Sources:

1. Reuters – "Trump and Xi set for second day of talks after Taiwan warning" (May 15, 2026): https://www.reuters.com/world/china/trump-xi-set-second-day-talks-after-taiwan-warning-2026-05-14/
2. Reuters – "Boeing shares drop 4% after Trump announces China orders just 200 jets" (May 14, 2026): https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/china-has-agreed-to-buy-200-boeing-jets-trump-says-2026-05-14/
3. Reuters – "China wants Strait of Hormuz open without restrictions, USTR Greer tells Bloomberg" (May 15, 2026): https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-wants-strait-hormuz-open-without-restrictions-ustr-greer-tells-bloomberg-2026-05-15/
4. Reuters – "Rubio tells NBC that US hopes to get positive response from China on case of Jimmy Lai and others" (May 14, 2026): https://www.reuters.com/world/china/rubio-tells-nbc-that-us-hopes-get-positive-response-china-case-jimmy-lai-others-2026-05-14/

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