China sought to depict a call between Xi Jinping and President Trump as an appeal from one strongman leader to another to run a tight ship and stay on course.
During his phone call with President Trump, Xi Jinping leaned on a maritime analogy to try to salvage the fragile trade truce that seemed to be fracturing from a series of escalating punitive economic measures.
The Chinese leader compared the relationship between the United States and China to a large ship, with the two men serving as powerful captains holding the rudder firmly to maintain the proper course. The analogy also came with a warning.
Do not let others steer the ship off course and jeopardize the relationship.
For weeks, the White House seemed to openly lobby for a direct conversation between the two leaders — a point underscored by China stating that Mr. Xi had agreed to the call on Thursday at Mr. Trump’s behest. With the United States ratcheting up the pressure on Beijing with technology and other restrictions, China may have acquiesced partly out of concern in Beijing that the China hawks in Mr. Trump’s administration were succeeding in undermining the truce, analysts said.
In a readout from the Chinese government, Mr. Xi emphasized on the 90-minute call that the two leaders needed to “steer clear of various disturbances or even sabotage.”
“China is quite concerned about this,” said Wu Xinbo, the dean of the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai. “There has to be communication at the leadership level to stop the momentum of the rapid deterioration of the U.S.-China relationship.”
The call between Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi came at an especially precarious moment. Less than one month after the two countries agreed to roll back punishing tariffs for 90 days and negotiate a trade deal, the truce seemed to be crumbling.