The summit between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump, in five key points: From Taiwan to AI and rare earths

"Ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s imminent visit to Beijing, China’s Foreign Ministry has dusted off an old Soviet Cold War concept: peaceful coexistence. This is the current state of affairs between the two superpowers: The world is too small for China and the United States to be at odds, argues a propaganda video, laden with meaning, released Monday."

"The highly anticipated summit between Trump and Xi Jinping, the leaders of the world’s two largest economies, will take place between Wednesday and Friday, and it marks the first trip by a U.S. president to Beijing in almost nine years. Only after the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989 was there a similar hiatus until the two countries resumed diplomatic relations."

"At that time, in his first term, he had only been in office for nine months. He went to Beijing complaining about the unsustainable trade imbalance, was dazzled by his host’s impressive display, and, upon returning, unleashed a trade war that continues to this day. This time, the meeting follows the fragile entente sealed between the two leaders in Busan (South Korea) last October, after a year of trade barbs in which Beijing and Washington showed that they have weapons capable of making a considerable hole in each other."

"The visit will undoubtedly be a grand affair, with the People’s Republic pulling out all the stops to entertain its guest. However, the circumstances are complicated. The war in Iran Beijing’s major oil supplier has introduced a new thorny element into a bilateral relationship that is as tense as it is essential for both countries."

China’s Foreign Ministry invokes peaceful coexistence ahead of a Trump-Xi summit in Beijing. The meeting occurs between Wednesday and Friday and is the first U.S. presidential visit to Beijing in nearly nine years. The last similar pause followed the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre before diplomatic relations resumed. The summit follows the fragile entente reached in Busan last October after a year of trade disputes and mutual economic leverage. The 2017 Trump visit ended with a trade war that continues. The upcoming visit is expected to be highly ceremonial, but the relationship is complicated by the war in Iran, a major oil supply source for China.

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