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The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Sunday, December 2, 2018 3A
Adviser: Trump-Xi G20
talks went ‘very well’
PABLO MARTINEZ MONSIVAIS I Associated Press
President Donald Trump meets with China’s President Xi Jinping during their bilateral meeting at the G20 Summit on
Saturday, Dec. 1, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
US, China presidents meet to resolve tense trade dispute
Trump’s on-off dance with
complicated acquaintances
Strict building
codes helped
city withstand
7.0 earthquake
BY PAUL WISEMAN,
ZEKE MILLER
AND CATHERINE LUCEY
Associated Press
BUENOS AIRES, Argen
tina — Face-to-face for more
than two hours, President
Donald Trump and Chinese
leader Xi Jinping engaged in
diplomacy Saturday aimed
at resolving a trade dispute
between the world’s two big
gest economies that has rat
tled financial markets and
threatens world economic
growth.
The top White House eco
nomic adviser, Larry Kudlow,
said talks went “very well,”
but so far, the White House
released no further details.
What they agreed on will
likely move markets up or
down, determine whether
the world economy gets
some relief from destabiliz
ing trade tensions and cast
judgment on the wisdom of
the American leader’s hard-
nosed trade tactics.
Before the dinner of
grilled sirloin, red onions,
goat ricotta and dates, Trump
told reporters that “we’ll be
discussing trade and I think
at some point we are going to
end up doing something that
is great for China and great
for the United States. ”
Xi’s remarks also gave no
indication of whether any
breakthrough was imminent.
“Only with cooperation
between us can we serve the
interests of world peace and
prosperity,” Xi said, adding
that he looked forward to
exchanging ideas and hav
ing an opportunity to “jointly
map out the future for China-
U.S. relations.”
The Trump-Xi meeting
was the marquee event of
Trump’s whirlwind two-day
trip to Argentina for the
Group of 20 Summit after
the president canceled a sit-
down with Russian President
Vladimir Putin over mount
ing tensions between Russia
and Ukraine. Trump also
canceled a Saturday news
conference, citing respect for
the Bush family following the
death of former President
George H.W. Bush.
Trump said Bush’s death
put a “damper” on what he
described as a “very impor
tant meeting” with Xi.
The United States and
China are locked in a dispute
over their trade imbalance
and Beijing’s push to chal
lenge American technologi
cal dominance. Washington
accuses China of deploying
predatory tactics in its tech
drive, including stealing
trade secrets and forcing
American firms to hand over
technology in exchange for
access to the Chinese market.
Trump imposed import
taxes on $250 billion in Chi
nese products. If he can’t get
a deal with Xi, he’s poised
to more than double most of
those tariffs Jan. 1. And he’s
threatened to expand tariffs
to virtually everything China
ships to the United States.
China, which has already
slapped tariffs on $110 bil
lion in U.S. goods, is likely
to retaliate, ramping up a
conflict that is already rat
tling financial markets and
causing forecasters to down
grade the outlook for global
economic growth.
U.S. officials insist that the
American economy is more
resilient to the tumult than
China’s, but they remain
anxious of the economic
effects of a prolonged show
down — as Trump has made
economic growth the bench
mark by which he wants his
administration judged.
A full-blown resolution was
not expected to be reached in
Buenos Aires; the issues that
divide them are just too dif
ficult. What’s more likely,
analysts say, was that they
would reach a truce, buying
time for more substantive
talks. Whether such a cease
fire would be enough to get
Trump to delay higher or
expanded tariffs is unclear.
Growing concerns that the
trade war will increasingly
hurt corporate earnings and
the U.S. economy are a key
reason why U.S. stock prices
have been sinking this fall.
Joining other forecasters,
economists at the Organiza
tion for Economic Co-oper
ation and Development last
week downgraded their
outlook for global economic
growth next year to 3.5 per
cent from a previous 3.7 per
cent. In doing so, they cited
the trade conflict as well as
political uncertainty.
Trump met Friday with
Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe and Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi in a
trilateral meeting. The sym
bolism ahead of the Xi meet
ing was clear: the Trump
administration has looked to
find common cause with both
nations in countering China’s
regional hegemony.
Earlier that day, Trump
signed a revamped three-way
trade deal with Canada and
Mexico, fulfilling a longstand
ing pledge, though the agree
ment could face headwinds
in Congress. He also held a
series of formal and informal
meetings and will continue
those sit-downs Saturday,
including with German Chan
cellor Angela Merkel.
Broken dates. Coy
suggestions. Missed
encounters. Private
opportunities.
Amid weighty issues of
state, another fascination
at the Group of 20 sum
mit has been President
Donald Trump’s will-
he, won’t-he dance with
two fellow leaders who
are something of inter
national outcasts these
days. Would Trump,
who has an affinity for
strongmen and a distaste
for business as usual,
stay away from Russian
President Vladimir Putin
and Saudi Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman?
On Day One of the
summit in Argentina
— fittingly, the land of
the tango — the diplo
matic quick-stepping was
everywhere Friday.
Trump has not been
shy in his praise of the
crown prince and Putin
in the past. But Prince
Mohammed has been
under global pressure
lately over the murder
of a Saudi journalist, and
Putin has drawn fresh
criticism for his coun
try’s mounting aggression
against Ukraine.
So Trump canceled his
plans to meet with Putin
and left bin Salman off
his public agenda. But
even then, Trump said
he looked forward to
meeting Putin soon. And
he never fully ruled out
seeing bin Salman, say
ing Thursday, “I would
have met with him but we
didn’t set that one up.”
There were still plenty
of chances for casual
encounters among the
leaders as they shuttled
between one-on-one ses
sions, group meetings,
meals, a cultural perfor
mance, a formal dinner
and what is known as the
“family photo,” a type of
class picture where all
the leaders pose stiffly
for the cameras.
The first real opportu
nity for public interac
tion came in the photo
session. Trump chatted
warmly with the leaders
of Canada, Japan and
France but walked past
bin Salman and Putin,
giving the former at most
a casual glance. Another
photo session with lead
ers and their spouses
in the evening did not
reveal any substantive
interaction.
All the while, Trump
powered through meet
ings with any number of
leaders. He began the
day with the Argentine
president, then signed a
trade deal with Mexico
and Canada before sepa
rate, more casual meet
ings with the leaders of
South Korea and Austra
lia and a formal “trilat
eral” meeting with Japan
and India.
Russian Foreign Minis
ter Sergey Lavrov called
the canceled Trump-
Putin meeting a missed
opportunity, saying it
didn’t “help settling a
number of important
international problems.”
He added, with resig
nation, “Love can’t be
forced.”
But did Trump interact
with bin Salman or Putin
behind the scenes, away
from prying eyes? A
senior White House offi
cial said Trump and bin
Salman had exchanged
pleasantries during a
leaders’ session, as he
had with nearly all the
other leaders. The offi
cial spoke on condition of
anonymity due to the sen
sitive nature of the crown
prince’s situation.
Trump told reporters
later: “We had no discus
sion. We might, but we
had none.”
BY RACHEL D’ORO
AND MARK THIESSEN
Associated Press
ANCHORAGE, Alaska
— The magnitude 7.0 earth
quake that rattled Alaska’s
largest city cracked roads
and collapsed highway
ramps, but there were no
reports of widespread cata
strophic damage or col
lapsed buildings.
There’s a good reason for
that.
A devastating 1964
Alaska earthquake — the
most powerful on record in
the United States — led to
stricter building codes that
helped structures withstand
the shifting earth Friday.
“Congratulations to the
people of Alaska for being
really prepared for this
earthquake,” U.S. Geologi
cal Survey Geophysicist
Paul Caruso said Saturday.
“Because a magnitude 7.0
in a city like that, you know,
it could have been signifi
cantly worse.”
A seismic expert said
Alaska and California use
the most stringent stan
dards to help buildings
withstand earthquakes.
Sterling Strait, a member
of the Alaska Seismic Haz
ards Safety Commission,
said the states use the Inter
national Building Code,
considered the best avail
able standard for seismic
safety.
It requires buildings to be
designed to resist possible
ground motion determined
by location and earthquake
histories.
It also mandates struc
tural connections — such
as beams and columns
— be reinforced to resist
damage from shaking, said
Strait, seismic program
coordinator for Alyeska
Pipeline Service Co., opera
tor of the 800-mile Alaska
oil pipeline.
Gov. Bill Walker said
people, including himself,
grouse about stringent
building codes. But he’s
“really glad” they were in
place as he only had minor
water damage at his home.
“Building codes mean
something,” he said.
The quake was cen
tered about 7 miles north
of Anchorage, which has a
population of about 300,000.
People ran from their
offices or took cover under
desks. A 5.7 aftershock fol
lowed. Then came a series
of smaller quakes.
The two big back-to-back
quakes knocked items off
shelves, disrupted power,
broke store windows and
briefly triggered a tsu
nami warning for islands
and coastal areas south of
the city. Walker issued a
disaster declaration, and
President Donald Trump
declared an emergency,
allowing the Federal
Emergency Management
Agency to coordinate disas
ter relief.
There were no reports of
deaths or serious injuries.
The oil pipeline was
shut down for hours Fri
day while crews were sent
to inspect it for damage.
Alyeska spokeswoman
Michelle Egan said it
was restarted at 3:30 p.m.
Friday.
She said Saturday there
were no obvious signs of
damage and no operational
impact on the pipeline. Its
closest section is 120 miles
from the epicenter of the
seismic activity.
Aftershocks Saturday
continued to fray nerves,
with people worrying about
being caught in more mas
sive shakers.
“They’re disturbing, and
I’m not putting anything
away that could fall until
they calm down,” Randall
Cavanaugh, an Anchorage
attorney, said following a
restless night at home. “I
kept waking up.”
By mid-morning, there
had been about 550 after
shocks, including 11 with
magnitudes of 4.5 or
greater, Caruso said.
The aftershocks should
be weaker and less fre
quent in the coming days,
but officials can’t say when
they’ll stop, he said.
Anchorage Mayor Ethan
Berkowitz said the extent
of damage was “relatively
small” considering the
scale of Friday’s earth
quake. He also credited
building codes for minimiz
ing structure damage.
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Associated Press
'fur*'
Gotha Wcmda Galey
11.18.1953 -11.10.2018
We would express our appreciation to
everyone for their love, support, flowers,
food, and most of all, everyone's prayers
in this time of need. We hold each and
everyone close to our hearts. Please
continue to pray for the family.
A special THANK YOU to the paramedics
of Hall county that responded to our call.
(Me Coley fTamity
MICHAEL DINNEEN I Associated Press
Al and Lyn Matthews show structural cracks in their
home in south Anchorage, Alaska, following earthquakes
Friday, Nov. 30.
GTA
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