Trump dodges question on China

China provided satellite images of US bases in Jordan during the recent Iranian attack. Donald Trump was asked for his reaction to the Wall Street Journal report on the issue, but Trump tactfully avoided the issue.

On Sunday (September 13), the US president said, "China spies on us, and we spies on them." But he did not say anything about the issue of Iran's deadly missile attack.

The Wall Street Journal report said that before Iran's missile attack on July 17, Chinese companies provided Iran with high-resolution satellite images of the Muwaffak Salti Air Base in Jordan.

Trump said, "They basically do what we do." Asked whether he would raise the issue in his upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump said, "Xi has been reasonable and the United States is being reasonable with China."

In his defense, Trump said, "You know what they say? They say China spies on us. I say, OK. We spies on them too."

The Wall Street Journal reported that US officials have linked the satellite images provided by Iran to the July 17 attack on the Jordanian base, which killed three US soldiers.

According to the report, US officials see this as the clearest evidence yet that Chinese institutions' support for Iran during the war had direct, lethal consequences for US troops.

However, US officials did not say which Chinese organization provided the images, nor did they allege direct involvement of the Chinese government or Beijing in the attacks.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to visit Washington on September 24 to meet with Trump.