Beijing, Sketsa.id – U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent statement that the West is experiencing decline while the East is rising. Trump made the remark on his social media platform Truth Social.

Trump clarified that he agreed with Xi’s assessment, but attributed the decline primarily to the previous Biden administration. He also claimed that Xi praised him for the progress the United States has made over the past 16 months on several key issues.

In the same post, Trump revealed that he and Xi discussed the situation in Iran, including the possibility of “the destruction of Iran’s military.” He ended the statement with “to be continued,” indicating the topic remains an ongoing point of discussion between the two leaders.

Although Taiwan was not listed on the official agenda of the Trump-Xi summit, analysts say it is impossible to ignore. Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Al Jazeera that Taiwan is not just “in the room,” but “sitting right on the table.”

“In Washington, many are asking why Trump is so focused on Iran when the long-term strategic challenge is a potential conflict with China over Taiwan,” Vatanka said.

Vatanka argued that the U.S. conflict with Iran has actually weakened America’s position vis-à-vis China. “What the U.S. has done in Iran does not strengthen American military power. Quite the opposite,” he said. “This war represents a significant victory for China,” adding that Beijing is closely studying how the United States is draining its own resources and strength.

The two leaders met amid heightened global tensions, with both economic competition and geopolitical flashpoints particularly Taiwan and Iran looming large over bilateral relations. (*)