WASHINGTON (TIP): US President Donald Trump will host his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on April 6-7 next week at his Mara-a-Lago resort in Florida, the White House announced March 30.

The engagement — the first between the two leaders after a torrid US election campaign during which Trump repeatedly attacked China on various issues — will provide the first clue about how the new administration will handle major global powers, particularly potential adversaries.

Leaders from nearly a dozen countries, including Ireland and Denmark have breezed through Washington in the nearly ten weeks since President Trump took over.

But few are so protocol- and optics-conscious as the establishments in Beijing and New Delhi, the latter of whom will watch the Xi visit keenly to read the tea-leaves about the new establishment’s Asia outlook in preparing for Prime Minister Modi’s visit to US that is expected to follow soon. (AFP)