News Trade Washington eyes ‘very productive’ Trump-Xi meeting this week Trump is on a five-day Asian tour that is expected to include a bilateral meeting with the Chinese leader in South Korea. Copy Link Free article usually reserved for subscribers G20 summit in Osaka Xi Jinping, President of China, and Donald Trump, President of the United States chat as they pose for the group photo at the beginning of the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, in June 2019. | Bernd von Jutrczenka/picture alliance via Getty Images October 26, 2025 11:19 am CET By Gregorio Sorgi Trade talks between the U.S. and China are setting the foundations for a "very productive meeting" between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week, American officials said on Sunday. Beijing and Washington are seeking to calm a trade war after Trump threatened new tariffs on Chinese goods in retaliation for China's expanding export controls on rare earth magnets and minerals. "I believe that we have the framework for the two leaders to have a very productive meeting for both sides," U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Advertisement Advertisement His comments echoed remarks by U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer earlier in the day. After meeting his Chinese counterparts in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Greer told reporters that negotiators are "getting to a spot where the leaders will have a very productive meeting." Trump expressed confidence in the ability of the U.S. and Chinese negotiators to fashion an agreement that stops the cycle of tit-for-tat tariffs and export-control reprisals that have characterized U.S.-China trade relations since April. “I think we're going to have a good deal with China. I think if we make a deal, it's going to be great for China, great for us,” Trump told reporters in Malaysia on Sunday. On his first visit to Asia during his second term, Trump landed in Malaysia Sunday morning to attend the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which groups together Southeastern Asian countries. This is his first stop in a five-day Asian tour that is expected to include to a bilateral meeting with Xi in South Korea. Bessent said American and Chinese officials reached a “very successful” framework in talks this weekend. The two sides discussed agricultural purchases, TikTok, fentanyl, trade, rare earths and the overall bilateral relationship, he said. The U.S. Treasury chief described the talks as “constructive, far-reaching and in-depth, and giving us the ability to move forward to set the stage for the leaders meeting in a very positive framework,” according to Bloomberg. Advertisement Advertisement "We discussed a wide variety of issues, from the rare earth, from the rare earth magnets to trade, to substantial purchases of American agricultural products, to the Chinese helping us in this fentanyl crisis that we have in the U.S., Bessent said later Sunday in an interview with CBS's "Face the Nation" program. "I believe that the Chinese will be making substantial purchases again" of American soybeans, he added. Beijing described the two days of talks by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and chief international trade negotiator Li Chenggang with Bessent and Greer as “candid, in-depth and constructive,” according to a Chinese Commerce Ministry statement on Sunday. The talks focused on issues including the Trump administration’s imposition earlier this month of new port fees targeting Chinese cargo ships, an extension of the Nov. 10 deadline suspending a return to triple-digit reciprocal tariffs, export controls and Washington’s fentanyl tariffs imposed in February, the statement said. “The current turbulences and twists and turns are the ones that we do not wish to see,” Li told reporters, adding that a stable China-U.S. trade and economic relationship is good for both countries and the rest of the world, Bloomberg reported. The Commerce Ministry readout indicated that the two days of talks created a foundation for a successful meeting between Trump and Xi later this week in South Korea. “They reached a basic consensus on arrangements to address their respective concerns,” the statement said. “Both sides agreed to further refine specific details and complete their respective domestic approval procedures.” Phelim Kine and Sophia Cai contributed reporting.
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AntisemitismCanada In 2026, Tulsa And Panama Are Courting Canadian Jews As Antisemitism Redefines The Cost Of Staying As antisemitism reaches unprecedented levels across Canada, Jewish families and professionals are quietly reassessing their futures, and some are being actively courted elsewhere. Ron East By: Ron East December 31, 2025 SHARE A growing number of Canadian Jews are exploring relocation options A growing number of Canadian Jews are exploring relocation options as antisemitism intensifies and confidence in public protection erodes. (Image: Illustration.) TORONTO — For generations, Canada sold itself as a country where Jews could thrive without constantly looking over their shoulders. That assumption no longer holds for a growing number of Canadian Jews, particularly in the aftermath of October 7 and the months that followed. What has changed is not only the number of antisemitic incidents. It is the atmosphere. Public hostility has been normalized. Jewish schools, synagogues, and community centres operate under permanent security protocols. Anti-Jewish intimidation is increasingly framed as political expression. Enforcement is inconsistent. Accountability is rare. When Jewish life requires constant risk assessment, mobility stops being a luxury. It becomes a rational act of self-preservation. That reality helps explain why, in 2026, two very different destinations, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Panama, are appearing with growing frequency in serious conversations among Canadian Jews who have the means and flexibility to move. This is not a panic migration. It is a strategic recalculation. Canada’s new warning lights Jewish Canadians represent a small fraction of the population, yet account for a vastly disproportionate share of reported hate crimes. This is not a perception problem. It is a documented pattern. More troubling than the statistics themselves is the message many Jews hear in response: concern, sympathy, and context, but little deterrence. Protests that spill into harassment are tolerated. Jewish institutions are targeted repeatedly. Antisemitism disguised as antizionism is parsed endlessly rather than confronted directly. The result is a slow erosion of confidence in the state’s willingness or ability to enforce equal protection. When a community moves from assuming it belongs to hoping nothing happens today, the social contract has already been fractured. It is within this context that Tulsa and Panama are not merely attracting attention but actively courting. Lech Le’Tulsa and intentional Jewish welcome Tulsa is not presenting itself as a refuge city. It is presenting itself as a place that wants Jewish life to grow. In 2026, that effort has taken concrete form through Lech Le’Tulsa, a Jewish-focused relocation initiative designed to attract Jewish families, professionals, and entrepreneurs to the Tulsa area. The program combines relocation assistance with intentional community building and access to Jewish infrastructure. The name is deliberate. Lech Lecha, the biblical call to go forth and build a future, is not branding by accident. It speaks directly to a Jewish historical instinct that understands movement not as retreat, but as agency. Lech Le’Tulsa offers what many Canadian Jews increasingly feel is missing at home: A clear signal that Jewish presence is welcomed, not merely accommodated Immediate access to synagogues, schools, and Jewish communal life A civic environment where Jewish identity is not treated as a liability The financial incentives matter, but the social architecture matters more. Tulsa is offering a landing ramp. It is saying, we are prepared for you to arrive. That clarity stands in stark contrast to the ambiguity Canadian Jews experience when their safety concerns are acknowledged but endlessly deferred. Panama and the appeal of optionality Panama represents a different but equally rational response to insecurity. For Canadian Jews with international mobility, Panama offers residency pathways tied to investment, business activity, or long-term economic contribution. It also offers something increasingly valuable: optionality. Panama has an established Jewish community, a comparatively lower cost of living, and an immigration framework that openly courts skilled and capital-carrying residents. For some, it is a permanent relocation. For others, it is a second base, a contingency plan, or a future passport pathway. What matters is not the destination itself, but the logic behind the choice. When Jews seek second options, they are not rejecting diaspora life. They are applying historical lessons. Jewish continuity has always depended on redundancy, resilience, and the ability to move before crisis becomes catastrophe. The Zionist lens Canadians prefer to ignore Zionism does not deny the legitimacy of diaspora life. It insists that Jews must never be dependent on the goodwill of others for safety or equality. That lesson was written in blood long before the modern State of Israel existed. Israel institutionalized it at a national level. Individual Jews apply it on a personal level. When Canadian Jews explore Tulsa or Panama, they are not abandoning Canada in anger. They are responding rationally to warning signs. They are building leverage. They are ensuring their children have options. This is what Zionist consciousness looks like outside Israel. It is quiet, pragmatic, and unsentimental. An indictment Canada should take seriously Tulsa and Panama are not superior societies. They are intentional ones. Tulsa is saying, we want contributors, and we are prepared to integrate them. Panama is saying, we want residents and investment, and we have clear legal pathways. Canada, too often, is saying something else entirely: we are sorry you feel unsafe, but the politics are complicated. A serious country does not treat antisemitism as a public relations challenge. It treats it as a threat to civic order. That requires enforcement, deterrence, and moral clarity, including the willingness to name antisemitism even when it hides behind fashionable political language. Until that happens, Canada should not be surprised when Jews quietly explore exit ramps. The bottom line In 2026, the fact that Tulsa and Panama can plausibly court Canadian Jews is not an oddity. It is a warning. When antisemitism reaches levels that fundamentally alter how Jews calculate their futures, movement becomes strategy. History teaches Jews to act before apologies arrive too late. Canada still has time to reverse this trajectory. But time matters. And Jews, having learned this lesson repeatedly, are no longer inclined to wait.
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