Former U.S. envoy expects upcoming Xi-Trump meeting to "go well"

Chinese President Xi Jinping's upcoming meeting with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump will "go well" and both sides will strive for a positive outcome from the meeting, said former U.S. ambassador to China Stapleton Roy on Friday.

"I think both leaders recognize they are dealing with probably the most important country from each side's standpoint. Therefore, if things go wrong, it has very serious potential consequences," Roy said at an event at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.

"We wouldn't be having this summit if the two sides didn't want it to go well. I don't see it that difficult to have it go reasonably well," Roy added.

Xi will meet with Trump in Palm Beach, Florida, from April 6 to 7, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang announced Thursday. The meeting between Xi and Trump will be the first since Trump assumed office in January.

Roy said it is very important for Xi and Trump to discuss both the issues where the two countries have common interest, and the areas where the two sides have differences, adding that "it needs to be done in a respectful fashion."

"You can actually make progress on very difficult issues if the way you handle them is conducive to trying to make progress rather than create obstacles," the former U.S. envoy said.

Roy also cautioned both leaders against misjudging the other side and engaging in behavior that would inadvertently cause the wrong reaction, stressing that "there are sensitivities on each side."

"If either or both leaders don't understand where those sensitivities are and behave in ways that trigger the wrong response, then it becomes difficult to manage," Roy said. "But my guess is, they will both be trying for a positive outcome rather than a poor outcome." Endi