beijing <u+2014> donald j. trump has called china a <u+201c>currency manipulator,<u+201d> threatened to impose stiff tariffs on chinese imports and accused the country of inventing the idea of climate change to hurt american businesses. but in his first telephone conversation with president xi jinping of china, mr. trump, now the president-elect, appeared to set aside those critiques expressed on the campaign trail, vowing that the two nations would have <u+201c>one of the strongest relationships,<u+201d> according to a statement released by mr. trump<u+2019>s transition office, reuters reported . mr. xi, in turn, told mr. trump that <u+201c>facts have shown that cooperation is the only correct choice<u+201d> for the united states and china, according to xinhua , the chinese state news agency. in the phone call, which took place on monday beijing time, the two men agreed to maintain close communications and to meet at an early date. despite the optimistic tone, analysts believe the relationship between mr. trump and mr. xi could grow tense if mr. trump follows through on his campaign promises, including a vow to impose a 45 percent tax on chinese imports. already, foreign policy experts in china appear to be nervous about the prospect of a trade war . an editorial on sunday in global times, a chinese newspaper known for its nationalistic views, said that trade would be <u+201c>paralyzed<u+201d> if mr. trump imposed such a tariff. the article threatened a <u+201c>tit-for-tat<u+201d> response, saying that sales of american cars, airplanes, iphones and soybeans would suffer and that china could limit the number of students who go to the united states to study. <u+201c>making things difficult for china politically will do him no good,<u+201d> the editorial said. <u+201c>trump, as a shrewd businessman, will not be so na<u+00ef>ve.<u+201d> mr. trump is a longtime critic of american trade policies with asian countries, and his pledge to rethink security commitments in japan and south korea has created uncertainty in the region. china, as a rising superpower, sees both benefits and potential dangers in mr. trump<u+2019>s leadership. some analysts believe his focus on domestic issues might allow china to exert more influence in asia and the pacific. others worry that he may abandon international agreements, such as a landmark accord on climate change reached last year. li yonghui, dean of the school of international relations and diplomacy at beijing foreign studies university, said in an interview that mr. trump<u+2019>s emphasis on domestic affairs might help ease tensions between the two countries. but he added that chinese leaders needed to prepare for the possibility that mr. trump might increase pressure on beijing, for example, by imposing more restrictions on trade. <u+201c>he<u+2019>s very different from the obama administration when it comes to issues like trade and economics,<u+201d> mr. li said. <u+201c>there<u+2019>s still a lot of uncertainty.<u+201d> follow javier c. hern<u+00e1>ndez on twitter @hernandezjavier. owen guo contributed research. get news and analysis from asia and around the world delivered to your inbox every day with the today<u+2019>s headlines: asian morning newsletter. sign up here .
trump and xi jinping, china<u+2019>s leader, hold cordial first phone call
javier c. hern<u+00c1>ndez