Analysis: The game behind the new facade in the relationship between Trump and Xi

Every time Xi Jinping meets the American president, he now looks more docile. Trump came out hard at the start of his second term in the White House. At most, he raised tariffs on Chinese goods to 145 percent.

Then China pulled its ace up its sleeve: the rare earths needed in all modern technology - and imposed export restrictions on them. Without them, the US military industry is hacking.

Since that day, Trump has changed tactics - and gone from confrontation to such spectacles as now in Washington, where the amiable surface is everything. Trump and Xi are such friends, says Trump.

- If I say something good about you, it is usually understood that you say something good about me. But President Xi never answers like that. Under the table, both want to kick each other's legs, Wang Yiwei, a Chinese professor of international relations, describes the game between Trump and Xi.

The Chinese leader appears to see Trump as a tool – albeit an unreliable one – that can be used to shift the US position on Taiwan. In Washington, he again called on Trump to take "the correct view" on the self-governing island - which has never been led by the Chinese Communist Party, but which the party claims should be united with the mainland.

China opposes a military package from the US equivalent to SEK 140 billion to Taiwan. Donald Trump has so far delayed the sale, touting it as a good bargaining chip in talks with China. No previous American president has said that.

But what was actually done during the meeting in Washington? In addition to an agreement on a brief extension of the cease-fire in the trade war until January 10. Not much of value has been presented. For example, what was said about the war in Iran, where the US claims that China supports Iran?

Tensions therefore remain in all areas where they existed before: Taiwan, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, rare earth metals and trade.

Xi Jinping is clearly better at dealing with Trump than at instilling faith in the future in his own population.

When it comes to AI, Donald Trump is open that he sees China as America's main adversary. Xi Jinping, for his part, emphasized that AI must remain “under human control,” which could easily be interpreted as his determination for control to be exercised by his ruling party.

When they next meet at the Apec meeting in Shenzhen, China in mid-November, the US mid-term elections may have weakened Donald Trump's position. According to analysts, this could give Xi Jinping additional room for maneuver.

Trade war is the last thing the Chinese leader wants to see. Otherwise, not much needs to happen in relations with the United States. China can therefore consider continuing on the pleasant, inoffensive path taken.

Time, the management in Beijing thinks, speaks for China.

With each passing month, Chinese companies are getting closer to the US in producing their own qualified semiconductors, which are needed for the development of AI.

China already has three times the capacity to produce electricity as the US, another important prerequisite in the race. The country is soon self-sufficient in most high-tech industries and reaches record trade surpluses.

The biggest problem is at home, where the economy is struggling because many residents do not dare to use their money.

Xi Jinping is clearly better at dealing with Trump than at instilling faith in the future in his own population.