As U.S. President Donald Trump prepares for his first visit to Beijing as U.S. president since 2017, set to run from Wednesday to Friday, the upcoming summit has emerged as a defining test of bilateral relations between the world’s two largest economies, with long-simmering tensions over Taiwan, trade and Iran policy taking center stage. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump addressed one of Beijing’s most contentious flashpoints: U.S. arms sales to the self-governing island, which China claims as part of its sovereign territory. When asked whether Washington would continue its longstanding policy of selling defensive weapons to Taipei, the president declined to give a direct answer, saying only, “I’m going to have that discussion with President Xi. That’s one of the many things I’ll be talking about.” Drawing on his personal rapport with the Chinese leader, Trump expressed confidence that a Chinese military incursion into Taiwan was unlikely, despite growing regional anxiety. “I don’t think it’ll happen. I think we’ll be fine. I have a very good relationship with President Xi. He knows I don’t want that to happen,” he said, though he acknowledged China’s geographic proximity to the island far outpaces that of the United States. Ahead of the visit, China has struck a conciliatory yet firm tone, framing the high-level meeting as an opportunity to anchor bilateral ties amid global volatility. “China is willing to work with the United States in the spirit of equality, respect, and mutual benefit, to expand cooperation, manage differences, and inject more stability and certainty into a volatile and intertwined world,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters Monday in Beijing. In response to Trump’s comments, Taiwan’s foreign ministry reaffirmed its commitment to deepening security cooperation with Washington, Taipei’s primary international security backer, and advancing robust defensive capabilities. “We will continue to strengthen cooperation with the United States and build effective deterrence capabilities in order to jointly maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” the ministry said. U.S. policy on Taiwan is rooted in longstanding frameworks: Washington officially recognizes only Beijing, but domestic law requires it to provide defensive arms to Taiwan, and the 1982 Six Assurances bar Washington from consulting Beijing on arms sales to the island. Ahead of Trump’s trip, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators led by Jeanne Shaheen, top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is pressing the president to immediately approve a $14 billion arms package for Taipei, emphasizing in a letter that “American support for Taiwan is not up for negotiation.” The call came days after Taiwan’s parliament approved a $25 billion defense spending bill – a step that aligns with Trump’s longstanding push for global allies to increase their own defense spending, though the final budget fell short of the Taipei government’s original proposal. Beyond Taiwan, the visit will also tackle long-running frictions over trade and Iran policy. Trump originally delayed the trip amid the ongoing U.S.-Israel campaign against Iran, which has so far rejected Trump’s appeals for a new nuclear agreement. The United States has imposed unilateral sanctions aimed at halting all global purchases of Iranian oil, and China – Tehran’s largest international oil customer – has emerged as a flashpoint on this issue. On Monday, just days ahead of the Beijing summit, the U.S. Treasury Department announced new sanctions targeting 12 individuals and entities it accuses of facilitating the shipment and sale of Iranian oil to China. The sanctions move comes as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent prepares to lay groundwork for the presidential talks during a scheduled meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, Beijing’s top trade negotiator, in Seoul this Wednesday. The meeting will mark a key follow-up to the last face-to-face encounter between Trump and Xi, which took place in October on the sidelines of a regional summit in South Korea. At that meeting, the two leaders agreed to a one-year truce in the bruising U.S.-China trade war that had pushed tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of bilateral goods above 100 percent. The upcoming summit is expected to place heavy focus on Trump’s goal of expanding U.S. trade access to the Chinese market, and the president will travel to Beijing accompanied by a cohort of top American business leaders, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk – once a public critic of Trump – and Apple CEO Tim Cook. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already added another layer of tension to the talks, saying in a Sunday interview with CBS News’ 60 Minutes that he is dissatisfied with Beijing’s transfer of missile technology to Iran. On the Iran issue, China has reiterated its longstanding position, with Guo saying Monday that Beijing’s stance on the country is “consistent” and that it will continue to play a “positive role” in pushing for a ceasefire and diplomatic peace talks.