President Trump arrives in China
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 13 May 2026
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
President Trump arrives in China, the first US president to go there in nearly a decade. We'll look at how the balance of power has shifted since then and how Chinese perceptions of America have also changed.
Also in the programme: on the day of the King’s Speech to Parliament setting out the next legislative programme, speculation mounts that a senior minister will challenge Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer for the leadership; and the stricken love letters of the English romantic poet John Keats, now up for auction.
(IMAGE: U.S. President Donald Trump participates in an arrival ceremony at Beijing Capital International Airport during his visit to the country, in Beijing, China, May 13, 2026 / CREDIT: Reuters/Evan Vucci)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:09.2 | Hello and welcome to NewsAff from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:12.7 | We're coming to you live from London. |
| 0:14.6 | I'm James Menendez. |
| 0:15.9 | And coming up later, we'll be getting the latest on the crisis at the heart of the UK government |
| 0:20.7 | for the beleaguered Prime Minister Kirst Starmer |
| 0:23.5 | as a senior minister seems set to quit and challenge him for the leadership. |
| 0:28.3 | More on that coming up in half an hour. |
| 0:30.7 | But we are going to begin in Beijing because just about an hour ago, |
| 0:34.7 | Air Force One touched down at the city's airport |
| 0:37.2 | for the first visit to China by a US president in nearly a decade. |
| 0:48.7 | Well, the last visit was back in 2017 during President Trump's first term, well before the pandemic, the war in |
| 0:56.4 | Ukraine and now America's war against Iran. And indeed before the US and China locked horns |
| 1:02.4 | last year over trade and technology. Donald Trump says this encounter will be, quote, |
| 1:08.0 | very special, but it may also be fraught as the two superpowers |
| 1:12.9 | vie for supremacy. We're live now to Beijing to talk to our China correspondent. Laura Bicker, |
| 1:18.7 | who joins us on the line. And Laura, what are they likely to be discussing when those talks |
| 1:23.1 | begin in earnest tomorrow? So I'm calling at the 40s. Let's start with the big one, Tehran. |
| 1:29.1 | So obviously the war in Iran is now overshadowing these talks. |
| 1:32.8 | And when it comes to the United States, they may be hoping that China can perhaps nudge its friend and ally Tehran towards the negotiating table. |
| 1:43.5 | Now remember, China is Iran's biggest |
| 1:46.9 | buyer of oil, biggest trade partner and a long-time friend and ally. So it may well be, using |
... |
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