BEIJING: In this file photo taken on November 9, 2017, China's President Xi Jinping (L) and US President Donald Trump attend a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People. - AFP

WASHINGTON/BEIJING:
US President Donald Trump said on Twitter that he had a "long and very
good call" with Chinese President Xi Jinping and that a possible trade
deal between the United States and China was progressing well. As a partial
shutdown of the US government entered its eighth day, with no quick end in
sight, the Republican president was in Washington, sending out tweets attacking
Democrats and talking up possibly improved relations with China.

The two nations
have been in a trade war for much of 2018, shaking world financial markets as
the flow of hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods between the world's
two largest economies has been disrupted by tariffs. Trump and Xi agreed to a
ceasefire in the trade war, deciding to hold off on imposing more tariffs for
90 days starting Dec 1 while they negotiate a deal to end the dispute following
months of escalating tensions.

"Just had a
long and very good call with President Xi of China," Trump wrote on
Saturday. "Deal is moving along very well. If made, it will be very
comprehensive, covering all subjects, areas and points of dispute. Big progress
being made!" Chinese state media also said Xi and Trump spoke on Saturday,
and quoted Xi as saying that teams from both countries have been working to
implement a consensus reached with Trump. "I hope that the two teams will
meet each other half way, work hard, and strive to reach an agreement that is
mutually beneficial and beneficial to the world as soon as possible," Xi
said, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.

China's foreign
ministry said on Sunday the two countries' relationship had endured storms
before, but that strong ties were important for the economies of both nations
and for ensuring global stability and peace. Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said
that Sino-US ties now "stand at a historic new starting point" and
that the two sides should respect each other's sovereignty, security and
development interest and appropriately manage differences. "Both sides
should stick to rationally and objectively viewing the other side's strategic
intentions, strengthen strategic communication and promote strategic mutual
trust to prevent strategic misjudgments," he said in a statement.

Government shutdown

Having canceled
his plans to travel to his estate in Florida for the holidays because of the
government shutdown that started on Dec 22, Trump tweeted, "I am in the
White House waiting for the Democrats to come on over and make a deal."
The Republican-controlled Congress was closed for the weekend and few lawmakers
were in the capital.

The shutdown,
affecting about one-quarter of the federal government including 800,000 or so
workers, began when funding for several agencies expired. Congress must pass
legislation to restore that funding, but has not done so due to a dispute over
Trump's demand that the bill include $5 billion in taxpayer money to help pay
for a wall he wants to build along the US-Mexico border.

The wall was a
major 2016 campaign promise of Trump's, who promised then that it would be paid
for by Mexico, which has steadfastly refused to do so. Trump has since demanded
that U.S. taxpayers pay for it at an estimated total cost of $23 billion. He
sees the wall as vital to stemming illegal immigration, while Democrats and
some Republicans see it as an impractical and costly project. The standoff over
Trump's demand for funding will be a test for Congress when it returns next
week.

Trump tweeted on
Saturday that the deaths of two migrant children this month who had been taken
into US custody after trying to cross the southern border were "strictly
the fault of the Democrats and their pathetic immigration policies." It
was unclear exactly which policies Trump was referring to, but his aides have
referred to US laws and court rulings - including laws passed with bipartisan
support - that govern the conditions under which children and families can be
detained as "loopholes" that encourage illegal immigration.

On Friday,
Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen visited Border Patrol stations
in Texas after her agency instituted expanded medical checks of migrant
children following the two deaths. She is also due to visit Yuma, Arizona, the
Department of Homeland Security said in a statement on Saturday. In the
interim, thousands of employees of federal agencies such as the Homeland
Security, Justice, Commerce, Interior, Transportation, Agriculture and other
departments were staying at home on furlough or soon to be working without pay.

For instance,
members of the US Coast Guard will receive their final paychecks of the year on
Monday, the service said in a statement on its website on Friday after
previously warning that payments would be delayed due to the shutdown.
"The administration, the Department of Homeland Security , and the Coast
Guard have identified a way to pay our military workforce on Dec 31,
2018," the service website read. That paycheck will be their last until
the government reopens. The Federal Emergency Management Agency also said on
Friday that it would resume issuing new flood insurance policies during the
shutdown, reversing an earlier decision. 
- Reuters