Mainland Affairs Council: The actual results of the Sichuan-Xi meeting are limited, and we need to pay attention to the CCP’s internal propaganda and Taiwan-related risks

Liang Wenjie, deputy chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, attended the symposium on "New Situations in the United States, China and Cross-Strait After the Second Sichuan-Xi Meeting in 2026" today (2nd) and delivered a speech. He said that the actual results of this "Sichuan-Xi Meeting" are limited, and what is more worthy of attention is how the CCP interprets it and the content of its internal propaganda. The government will pay close attention to the CCP's subsequent actions against Taiwan and the region, especially when China overestimates its own strength, which may increase the risk of taking risky actions.

Liang Wenjie pointed out that in this "Sichuan-Xi meeting", China focused on promoting Xi Jinping's high-level reception by the United States and being on an equal footing with U.S. leaders, and further created an atmosphere that the United States has no willingness or ability to intervene in the Taiwan Strait. It deliberately promoted the historical narrative that China and the United States were allies in World War II, and connected the so-called "new militarism" with the Taiwan issue in an attempt to divide the U.S.-Japan alliance and Taiwan-U.S. relations. However, the CCP's distortion of historical facts is contrary to the general understanding of the international community.

In response to the Trump-Xi talks about the history of World War II and the Chinese Communist Party’s related narratives, Deputy Foreign Minister Chen Mingqi said that the message the United States wants to convey is that the United States has always maintained peace and stability in East Asia and is a positive force in the region. At the same time, China as a whole still advocates "rising in the east and falling in the west" and warning of the "Thucydides Trap" of major power conflict, and the United States uses this to respond to China's strategic deployment. Moreover, Trump specifically mentioned at the dinner that Americans inherited the democracy of ancient Athens, highlighting the difference with China.

One of the consensuses of this Sichuan-Xi meeting is that "both sides agree to build a constructive strategic and stable relationship between China and the United States based on respect, fairness, and reciprocity." Chen Mingqi believes that it is understood that Xi Jinping attaches great importance to "respect", and China also wanted to further promote "equality" in the communication before the meeting, but in the end, "reciprocity" was adopted as the consensus content.

Scholars attending the meeting said that the convening of the "Sichuan-Xi meeting" highlights that the United States and China have stable relations and consider meeting internal needs. Although the CCP claimed to have fought side by side with the United States in World War II, in fact, the CCP has no record of declaring war. Other scholars pointed out that the economic and trade results of this Sichuan-Xi meeting were mainly concentrated in non-sensitive areas such as agricultural products, and the structural economic and trade conflicts between the United States and China have not been resolved. As far as Taiwan is concerned, in recent years, the proportion of exports to China has declined, exports to the United States have increased, and rates of return have increased. The Chinese people have become more confident in Taiwan's overall economic development.