(Deutsche Welle Chinese website) The Diplomat published an article titled "Trump-Xi Summit: Full of Atmosphere, Little Substance." The author Shannon Tiezzi (editor-in-chief of the magazine) pointed out that in the first minute of the joint speech, Trump said no less than three times that it was his "honor" and even "a great honor" to entertain Xi Jinping. Obviously, this "honor" all belongs to Trump, while Xi Jinping did not make a corresponding statement and only said that he was happy to come to Washington. This, the author says, set the tone for the entire meeting. Tiezzi pointed out that "constructive strategic and stable relations" is Beijing's new slogan for this set of relations, and it is also the first time that China has successfully made Washington accept its own formulation.
The article said that in terms of grandeur, the White House arranged a welcoming ceremony attended by 479 military personnel, ending with a flyby of B-2 stealth bombers and four F-22s. A state banquet invited Altman, Huang Jen-Hsun, Cook, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Pichai and Musk. But the author noted that Xi Jinping did not bring his own delegation of entrepreneurs this time, in contrast to Trump's arrangement when he visited China in May; Emily Kilcrease of the Center for a New American Security called the absence of Chinese business leaders "a rather depressing sign of how far this relationship has deteriorated." The article finally pointed out that the trade truce was only extended until January 10, which is just enough to stabilize the relationship until the Shenzhen APEC in November and the Miami G20 in December; after that, nothing can be said for sure.
The Taiwan Strait will not be a transaction between the United States and China
The foreign ministers of the United States, Japan and South Korea met during the United Nations General Assembly and issued a joint statement, reiterating their opposition to China's economic coercion, maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and supporting Taiwan's meaningful participation in appropriate international organizations. Taiwan's online media "Newtalk" published on September 23 "Before the Trump-Xi meeting, the United States, Japan and South Korea first drew a red line: the Taiwan Strait will not be a trade commodity between the United States and China." The author Wu Sezhi believed that the three countries did not add diplomatic rhetoric after the summit, but laid out their common positions in the sun before the meeting. This means that the Trump-Xi meeting can discuss trade, technology, artificial intelligence, supply chains and even energy security, but it does not mean that the United States can arbitrarily change existing regional security policies in the absence of consensus among allies.
Wu Sezhi believes that the joint statement puts "peace in the Taiwan Strait", "maintenance of the status quo" and "international legal order" into the same strategic framework, which actually denies Beijing's claim that it can unilaterally determine the order of the Taiwan Strait. It also sends a signal: the Taiwan Strait issue is no longer a simple issue between the two sides, but an international issue involving Indo-Pacific security, global supply chains and international maritime order. He also reminded Taiwanese society to be wary of "suspicious theories about the United States" - if every US-China summit has to speculate on "whether the United States is betraying Taiwan," then Taiwan may fall into strategic self-doubt without the need for Beijing to take action. He advocated that instead of repeatedly asking whether Trump would sacrifice Taiwan, Taiwan should strengthen its defense capabilities, democratic resilience and economic security, and deepen cooperation with democratic partners such as the United States, Japan and South Korea.
Can more meetings really resolve the differences between China and the United States?
"Xi Jinping Visits the White House" was published on the website of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) on September 23. The author James M. Lindsay (senior fellow on U.S. foreign policy at the Council) pointed out that this is the third meeting between Trump and Xi Jinping in eleven months. The two will meet twice more at the APEC Leaders' Meeting in Shenzhen in November and the G20 Summit in Florida in December. The author quotes Churchill as saying that it is better to sit down and talk than to go to war; but he also points out that it is far from clear whether frequent meetings have promoted the resolution of differences: China still acquiesces to Russia's aggressive war in Ukraine and is still the largest buyer of Iranian oil. Taiwan, the issue most likely to trigger direct conflict between the United States and China, has always been the elephant in the room.
The article cited the opinions of other scholars who pointed out that the two had different goals and it was difficult to move forward based on the previous meetings. Four months ago, Trump accepted Xi Jinping's term for a "constructive strategic and stable relationship," but what exactly he meant by it remains unclear, and the U.S. acceptance of it is itself unusual - Washington has historically avoided adopting Beijing's rhetoric, both to avoid acquiescing to Beijing's definition of such rhetoric and to not imply that Beijing sets the terms of the relationship. Trump doesn't care about such rhetorical labels, and in his view it may just be a convenient favor; the question is whether this concession is really free of cost.
The article said that China would believe that it has turned the trade truce into a greater advantage: the Iran war has dragged the United States in the Middle East, exposing the weakness of high-tech weapons that are quickly consumed and difficult to replenish, and the Trump administration’s tense relationship with traditional allies has weakened one of the foundations of U.S. strength.
