Al Jazeera

By Heba Habib and Erin Hale

    Chinese President Xi Jinping is holding talks with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, in Beijing following a pomp-filled welcome ceremony.

    Xi said that China’s and the US’s “common interests outweigh” their differences and expressed hope that the two countries can work together at a time of historic turbulence.

    Trump wants China to open its markets to US companies and buy more US agricultural products, such as beef and soya beans.

    Xi is expected to seek concessions on Taiwan and tariffs to keep trade flowing between the two countries.

    The US and Israel’s war on Iran is likely to feature in the talks, as China is Tehran’s biggest oil and gas customer.

Trump’s history of flattering comments about Xi

    As Trump sat across from Xi at the Great Hall of the People earlier, he offered his counterpart effusive praise.

    “You’re a great leader,” Trump told Xi. “Sometimes people don’t like me saying it, but I say it anyway, because it’s true.”

    Trump’s flattery was a continuation of a theme in his nearly decade-long history of interactions with Xi.

    During his first state visit to China in November 2017, Trump told Xi he was a “very special man.”

    Trump’s has also lavished praise on Xi outside of his official dealings with the Chinese leader.

    In an interview with Fox News in 2023, Trump called Xi “smart” and a “brilliant guy”.

    In 2017, Trump described Xi as “very talented” and a “very good man.”

Xi cites the Thucydides Trap to Trump: What is it

By Charu Kasturi

    In his opening remarks to Trump, the Chinese president referred to the Thucydides Trap, arguing that the big challenge for their two countries was to avoid it.

But what is the Thucydides Trap

    Its roots go all the way back to Greek historian Thucydides, who had described how the rise of Athens had sparked fear in Sparta, which, he argued, made war between the two inevitable.

    Then, in 2015, Harvard scholar Graham Allison coined the term “Thucydides Trap”, which referred to the tensions between a rising power and the established hegemon whose authority was under threat, and how, in Allison’s analysis, this almost always led to war.

    Allison studied 16 cases of this dynamic over 600 years and found that war had eventuated in 12 instances.

    The term has since been used widely to describe the risks in the China-US relationship.

ANALYSIS

Summit in focus across Asia

    While the summit is taking place between the US and China, the gathering is being closely watched across Asia, given the stakes for the region as a whole.

    Ja Ian Chong, an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore, says that countries in the region will be hoping for greater predictability in US-China ties above all else.

    “More positive ties are good, but even consistency is acceptable,” Chong told Al Jazeera.

    “What they don’t want are major swings in the relationship, whether during the summit or after – as one major power capital or both decide they don’t want to commit to some arrangement any longer.”

    Thomas Daniel, a senior fellow at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, says Southeast Asia is “smack in the centre” of the US-China rivalry and can either “reap its rewards or be part of the collateral damage”.

    “Almost every major issue discussed in this summit – trade, tariffs, Taiwan, semiconductors, critical minerals, supply chains, the South China Sea and investments – directly affects our economies and security,” Daniel told Al Jazeera.

    “The region’s peace and prosperity is largely dependent on a productive relationship between Beijing and Washington.”

Xi Jinping pushes for stability in ties

By Katrina Yu

Reporting from Beijing,China

    To get a sense of what Xi Jinping really wants from this visit, we can look to his opening remarks. The main thrust of his message was that the two countries find themselves at a crossroads.

He asked: Can Trump and Xi overcome the Thucydides Trap, the idea that a rising power is destined for conflict with an established one, or can they create a new paradigm of major power relations and inject greater stability into the world

    That, I think, is Beijing’s underlying goal: Can this visit create stability in the relationship, and can these two leaders avoid war despite a growing list of disagreements and tensions that risk spiralling into something larger  Xi also said the two countries should view each other as partners, not rivals, and should seek cooperation rather than confrontation.

    The atmosphere has been very positive: an elaborate military welcome, children waving flags, a ceremony that visibly impressed Trump. He smiled, and even mentioned it in his remarks.

    But Beijing is also wary. This is a leader known for walking away from agreements shortly after signing them, and China has lived through that experience once already, with the first trade war.

Is Beijing likely to give Trump any help on getting an Iran deal

By Katrina Yu

Reporting from Beijing,China

    On the surface, China has repeatedly said it is willing to do whatever it can to help end the Iran conflict. It has been critical of how the war started and critical of the US blockade of Iranian ports. China wants to see the Strait of Hormuz reopened, as 30 to 40 percent of its own energy supplies flow through that chokepoint, and it is also a buyer of Iranian oil.

    Simultaneously, China has been quietly distancing itself from Iran. It has been saying it is not a party to this war, that it simply wants a ceasefire and talks to continue, and it has been downplaying its ability to exert influence over Tehran. Part of the reason is that several countries, including the US, have accused China of directly or indirectly supporting the Iranian war effort. The US has sanctioned at least five Chinese oil refineries and a number of Chinese technology companies over their alleged role. China has been furious about this and has told its companies to ignore those sanctions and continue business as usual.

    I think privately, Beijing would have preferred the Iran situation to be resolved by now. It sees it as an unhelpful distraction from the more important goals of this meeting with Trump.

How does Xi Jinping view Trump and the US

By Erin Hale

    As Xi rolled out the red carpet for Trump on Thursday, there are some key points to keep in mind regarding how he views the US–China relationship.

    The first is that Xi sees the US system as one in long-term decline. He has a famous maxim: “The East is rising, and the West is declining.” Chinese state media regularly carry stories about US crime and instability as evidence of that narrative.

    The second point, according to analysts, is that Xi also sees Trump as a potentially dangerous opponent due to his back-and-forth decision-making – even if he often ends up backing down from his threats at the last minute.

    Beijing is also aware that, while unpopular, Trump will not be seeking re-election, which means he has less motivation to hold back than other US leaders.

Trump seeks Chinese help on Iran

By Alan Fisher

Reporting from Beijing,China

    Trump has suggested that when he arrived in Beijing, the first thing Xi would do is give him a “big fat hug” because the Strait of Hormuz has reopened . But it is not fully open, and that is hurting Chinese industry. China has not suffered as badly in its oil sector, given its reserves, but it clearly does not want this situation to continue.

    There have been suggestions that China might act as a guarantor, perhaps proposing to take custody of enriched uranium, or securing Iranian commitments on nuclear weapons for a period. But China does not like getting involved in foreign conflicts, and there is also an element of Beijing not minding that Trump is dealing with this pressure domestically, and the toll it is taking on the US economy.

    China does believe it has real leverage with Tehran – the Iranian foreign minister was in Beijing just last week. Trump also has leverage: the $14bn arms sales package to Taiwan that he has paused. He could scale that back further if he felt China was helping him secure a deal with Iran.

    None of this will be resolved in the next few hours. Trump’s primary aim is to leave with an economic victory. A diplomatic victory on Iran would be welcome too, and China may well be the key to that.

Xi tells Trump that China and US should be ‘partners, not rivals’

    We can now bring you more from Xi’s opening remarks.

    The Chinese president said he was “very happy” to meet Trump in Beijing at a time of historic turbulence and when the “world stands at a new crossroads”.

    Xi then posed a series of questions to the US president.

“Can China and the United States transcend the so-called ‘Thucydides Trap’ and forge a new paradigm for major-power relations  Can we join hands to address global challenges and inject greater stability into the world

    “Can we uphold the wellbeing of our respective peoples and the shared future of humanity, working together to create a bright future for our bilateral relationship ” he asked.

    “These are, in essence, questions posed by history, by the world, and by the people, and they constitute the answer to our times that you and I, as leaders of major nations, must jointly write.”

    Xi also said that China and the US should be “partners, not rivals” and that a stable relationship between the two nations was a “boon for the world”.

What’s behind China’s red carpet for Trump

By Katrina Yu

Reporting from Beijing,China

    Trump and Xi could not be more different. Trump is brash and direct. Xi Jinping is a completely different style of leader: distant, aloof, someone who speaks in poetry and metaphors. Anything could happen on this trip. And that is why the whole world is watching.

    The Great Hall of the People is the seat of power in China, the equivalent of the White House and all other important centres of power combined. This is where Xi Jinping conducts his most important official business, where all state leaders are received. China is deeply invested in symbolism and visual optics, and it uses these details to convey the importance of a guest.

    When Trump first visited in 2017, he was the first foreign leader to be granted what China called “state visit-plus” status that tells you something about how Beijing regards him. One thing worth noting: When Trump landed in Beijing yesterday, he was greeted at the airport by the vice president, Han Zheng, who holds a largely ceremonial role; he is the official who attended the coronation of King Charles. China is very aware that it wants to give Trump a spectacle. What we are seeing now is China rolling out the red carpet accordingly.

How Rubio is in China, despite being sanctioned

By Alan Fisher

    US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is there. He’s in the Great Hall of the People, alongside Trump. This, even though he has twice been sanctioned by China – from before he became secretary of state.

    China has done that using a sleight of hand: His name is spelled different in official documents for this visit.

How China and its people view Trump’s visit

By Katrina Yu

Reporting from Beijing,China

    People are fascinated. It is on the front page of every newspaper. It is what everyone is talking about. There is a strong sense of how momentous this meeting could be.

    But many people are also wary of Trump. They feel he has treated China unfairly, not just through the trade wars but through what happened during COVID and everything that has followed.

    One thing that is genuinely interesting: Trump has a nickname here in China. One of the most popular translates roughly as “Nation Builder”, and they are not talking about him building up the United States. They mean China.

    The argument is that the trade restrictions, the attempts to contain China, have had the opposite of their intended effect, boosting homegrown industries and ultimately making China more stable and more powerful than it was before those measures were imposed.

Trade expert expects ‘meagre’ outcome at summit

By John Power

    Trade expert Deborah Elms says she has only “modest” expectations for the summit.

    Elms, who leads trade policy at the Hinrich Foundation in Singapore, expects to see China agree to more purchases of US goods and some “small movement” towards narrowing the differences between Washington and Beijing, as well as an “airing of grievances” on the difficulty of doing business in China.

    “I am not convinced the preparatory work has been sufficiently concluded,” Elms told Al Jazeera.

    “The final ‘package’ of results will be pretty meagre,” she said.

Chinese state media calls for a reset in relations, sets ‘red lines’

    Chinese state media have carried commentaries about US President Donald Trump’s trip and the future of US-China relations, offering an insight into the Chinese leadership’s hopes for the meeting.

    Ahead of the meeting, state media repeated the “four red lines” in the US-China relationship: the “Taiwan question”, democracy and human rights, China’s political system, and China’s right to development – including technological development.

    State media also carried several commentaries that put a more positive spin on the US-China relationship. There were three key themes throughout – a call for a reset in relations, the benefits of stronger ties, and shared common ground between both countries.

    People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, carried an opinion piece that said: “China-US relations cannot return to the past, but they can move towards a better future.”

    A Xinhua article stressed the importance of US and China’s economic ties, noting that “the world’s two largest economies remain intertwined, with their supply chains tightly integrated”.

Xi and Trump meet as Taiwan, tariffs and tech top agenda

By Katrina Yu

Reporting from Beijing, China

    President Xi Jinping hosts world leaders regularly, but none quite as powerful or as unpredictable as Donald Trump.

    Beijing has said time and time again that there is no diplomatic relationship more important than the one between Beijing and Washington.

    The last time Trump was here, in 2017, he was greeted with fanfare. But almost immediately after Trump returned home, he launched that first trade war against China. China has learned its lesson: it has to flatter Trump, show him respect, work closely with him, while not fully trusting him.

    China’s priorities are trade stability and better tariff terms. Beijing wants to signal confidence to investors around the world and boost economic activity.

    On technology, we know that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was a last-minute addition to Air Force One. The company has custom-made a chip, the H20, for the Chinese market. But Xi Jinping has told Chinese companies not to buy it, because he wants to support the homegrown semiconductor industry.

    For Xi Jinping, there is no issue more important than Taiwan. He sees it as a rogue Chinese territory that will one day be reunified with Beijing. Trump has held up an arms sales package worth $14bn to Taiwan and has said he is open to discussing this with Xi.

    If Xi can get that package reduced or shelved, that will be seen as a win.

Trump says US-China relations ‘going to be better than ever’

    Here’s more from the US president’s opening remarks.

    He described the US delegation as “great” and comprising the biggest US companies.

    He told Xi he was looking forward to their discussions and that everyone in the US was talking about their summit.

    “It’s an honour to be with you. It’s an honour to be your friend, and the relationship between the USA and China [is] going to be better than ever,” he added.

Trump hails ‘fantastic relationship’ with Xi

    The US president, in his opening remarks, praised his host and hailed their “fantastic relationship”.