‘Surprising … disappointed’: Trump has a warning for Xi ahead of September trip

‘Surprising … disappointed’: Trump has a warning for Xi ahead of September trip In mixed signals to Beijing, the US leader blasts Fauci-led pandemic response for ‘protecting China’ and warns Xi over arms for Iran US President Donald Trump said he would be “quite disappointed” if his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping broke a personal promise not to arm Iran, even as he revived his accusation that long-time US health official Anthony Fauci helped shield Beijing from scrutiny over the origins of Covid-19. The comments came as Fauci, who led the US response to the pandemic, appeared before a Senate committee. Separately, Reuters has reported that Iran is expected to receive 300 to 400 Chinese-made shoulder-fired air-defence missile systems within weeks. The report claimed that the weapons would be flown from western China through Pakistan under a deal valued at US$60 million to US$70 million. Beijing rejected an earlier report that China was supplying weapons to Iran as “completely groundless” ahead of the Trump visit in May. Asked about the latest report, Trump told journalists that he would find it “surprising”, saying of Xi that “he told me very strongly he wouldn’t partake. But he knows I’d be quite disappointed”.