Xi Jinping Will Skip Un Ahead Of Trump Summit

Chinese leader Xi Jinping won’t tack on a side trip to New York City to address the United Nations General Assembly when he’s in the U.S. next month for a meeting with President Donald Trump.

The Chinese leader — who will meet with Trump on Sept. 24 in Washington — has no plans to attend the U.N.’s General Debate beginning Sept. 22 when world leaders convene for a week of speeches and side meetings with U.S. government officials, according to four people familiar with the Chinese leader’s travel itinerary.

Xi will instead limit his presence in the U.S. to his meeting with Trump on Sept. 24.

“Xi is set to fly in likely late on Sept. 23 — he isn’t doing UNGA — and fly out on the 25th,” said one of the people, who, like others, was granted anonymity due to the diplomatic sensitivity of their comments. “He’ll really only have one day of meetings at the White House on the 24th.”

The State Department directed queries to the White House. The White House confirmed in a statement that Xi will visit the White House on Sept. 24 but declined to comment on any other possible activities on the Chinese leader’s schedule while he’s in the U.S.

There had been wide speculation among the Washington diplomatic community that Xi would take the opportunity to attend the assembly to pitch China’s plans for peaceful international development as a counterpoint to the ongoing U.S. war on Iran.

“When the Sept. 24 summit date was initially announced, people pointed out that the Chinese may have suggested that date so he could also go to New York City for UNGA,” a Washington-based EU diplomat said. New York City-based diplomats also noted that Beijing had not sent an advance team to the city, as would be expected ahead of any visit by Xi, the diplomat added.

Neither the Chinese embassy nor the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York City responded to requests for comment.

Xi last came to New York to speak at UNGA in 2015 to mark the 70th anniversary of the U.N.’s founding. Xi addressed UNGA via video link at the height of the Covid pandemic in 2021 in which he implicitly referenced the U.S. failure in Afghanistan a month prior as part of a pitch to developing countries for a post-U.S. dominant world order hinged to China’s economic development model.

“It’s a missed opportunity for Xi because China has positioned itself as a great supporter of the U.N. Charter and a bastion of global governance while the U.S. is embroiled in a war in Iran and is receding on the international front,” said Richard Stengel, former Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs in the Obama administration. “For the Trump administration it’s a benefit in the sense that there won't be a contrast between a world power that is sort of backing the U.N. versus America First, which doesn’t care about the U.N.”