China’s President Xi Jinping welcomed US President Donald Trump to Beijing on Wednesday with a somber reflection on the weight of history. Invoking the “Thucydides Trap,” the historical theory that a rising power and an established, leading one are frequently destined for war, Xi posed a fundamental question to his American counterpart, saying:
“The world has reached a new crossroads: can China and the United States overcome the Thucydides Trap and create a new model of relations? Can we face global challenges together and provide greater stability to the world? Can we, in the interest of our world, our two peoples, and the future of humanity, build a brighter future for our bilateral relations?”
The summit in China is widely viewed as a pivotal moment for the “negotiation of the century,” as the world’s two largest economies grapple with disputes ranging from trade and artificial intelligence to the conflicts in Iran and the Taiwan Strait.
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