First Thing: Xi warns Trump of ‘clashes and even conflicts’ with US over Taiwan

Good morning. On the western edge of Tiananmen Square in Beijing, in the imposing Mao-era Great Hall of the People, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping sat down this morning for two hours of talks. After the meeting, China’s foreign ministry published Xi’s remarks. He said Taiwan was “the most important issue in China-US relations” and warned of “clashes and even conflicts” with the US over its future. Beijing wants the US to reduce its levels of support for Taiwan, a self-governing island that China claims as part of its territory. Xi has made “unification” with Taiwan a core priority for his legacy and has not ruled out the use of force. What else was on the agenda? The Chinese government said the two leaders discussed the war in the Middle East, the Ukraine conflict and issues on the Korean peninsula. As my colleagues Amy Hawkins and David Smith have written , the US is entering into talks with its superpower rival from a vulnerable position. What is unlikely to be discussed? Unlike under previous US administrations, the visit is not expected to focus on human rights or US-China cooperation to tackle the climate crisis. Follow our live coverage of the summit here . Stacey Abrams on why gutting of the US Voting Rights Act is ‘evil incarnate’ Stacey Abrams appears on the Guardian’s new US video podcast. Composite: AP/The Guardian The supreme court gutted the 1965 Voting Rights Act when it ruled in Louisiana v Callais last month that states could not consider race in redistricting. …