This week's Beijing summit had all the necessary ingredients for an epic geopolitical confrontation. Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, the central figures in the rivalry reshaping global politics, squared off for the first time since their showdown in Busan.
Instead, it resembled a garden party more than a UFC prize fight. The pair exchanged toasts, visited monuments and historic sites together, and talked vaguely about strategic stability and even friendship between their countries. A closer inspection reveals the daggers behind their smiles. The contest between the United States and China continues unabated.
Conventional wisdom held that Trump arrived in Beijing in a position of weakness. The Iran campaign has turned into a quagmire, the story goes, and Trump is eager to avoid a confrontation. Xi, on the other hand, has carefully prepared his country for being cut off from Middle Eastern oil, and his foresight makes him stronger at home and abroad.
Xi Jinping made his priorities clear from the start. He proposed, and Trump accepted, framing the Sino-American relationship around "constructive strategic stability" for the "next three years and beyond." That supposedly means that the United States and China will moderate their competition and manage their differences peacefully.
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