Xi Ascendant
Key takeaways
- President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing could have been a disaster instead of a damp squib.
- That said, the summit was still disappointing for the United States at both the strategic and tactical levels.
- The summit signifies two dramatic turns, one in the long arc of the United States’ China policy and the second in Washington’s currently ineffectual negotiating skills.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing could have been a disaster instead of a damp squib. He could have made an embarrassing faux pas, handed over the United States’ most advanced technology, or created a new crisis by imposing new major sanctions in an attempt to regain the upper hand on Chinese President Xi Jinping. Given all the tumult in the world, a meeting marked by promises of new dialogue and stability, however unsubstantial they are so far, should be welcomed.
That said, the summit was still disappointing for the United States at both the strategic and tactical levels. Trump accepted a framing of the relationship that better suits China than the United States and helps China consolidate the considerable gains that it has made over the past year. Although it is still too early to conclude, as Xi has argued, that “the East is rising and the West is falling,” given China’s momentum, Mao Zedong’s dictum, “The east wind is prevailing over the west wind,” may be more accurate in the near term.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing could have been a disaster instead of a damp squib. He could have made an embarrassing faux pas, handed over the United States’ most advanced technology, or created a new crisis by imposing new major sanctions in an attempt to regain the upper hand on Chinese President Xi Jinping. Given all the tumult in the world, a meeting marked by promises of new dialogue and stability, however unsubstantial they are so far, should be welcomed.