China cool to feverish American diplomacy

As leaders of the world’s two biggest economies met in Washington, there was anticipation in the air, along with key sticking points.

Even as U.S. President Donald Trump rolled out the red carpet for Xi, the summit seems to pretty much be driven by optics rather than substantive outcomes.

In an unprecedented gesture, the U.S. President and the first lady personally welcomed Xi Jinping along with spouse at the Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. This marked the first time in 67 years that a U.S. President received a foreign leader at the airport.

This was followed by a grand welcome ceremony at the White House. The leaders then attended a military review, which featured trumpeters and a series of performances by traditional military bands. The ceremony concluded with a special fly-over by a B-2 Spirit bomber and four F-22 Raptor fighter jets.

In another significant gesture, Trump’s daughter Ivanka wore a dress and matching jacket, reportedly designed by a Chinese fashion designer, during the welcome ceremony.

There was also a personal touch on display during the lavish state dinner hosted by Trump for Xi.

On this occasion, Trump and his wife gifted Xi a bald eagle statue, which they helped personally design. Xi too was effusive in his praise for Trump. Listen in to what he said…

But what really was achieved in the bilateral talks between the two leaders?

Let’s dissect that now.

Xi stated that both sides had reached new common understandings, enriching the constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability.

On the other hand, Trump described his meeting with Xi as very productive. He said and I am quoting him, “Tremendous things will happen”.

He also claimed that Xi agreed with him on calling artificial intelligence as ‘super intelligence’.

According to China though, Xi told Trump that there is more opportunity for cooperation than competition on AI. He called for exchanging views on risks and benefits of AI and together guarding against its misuse.

However, there was no sign that their talks yielded any breakthroughs on the thorny issues such as Taiwan and the war with Iran.

Speaking to CNBC, U.S. Envoy to China David Perdue revealed that Trump had conveyed to Xi, that any kind of help to Iran is unacceptable.

While he claimed that multiple agreements were reached pertaining to trade, Perdue added that details will be released only on Monday. However, China is yet to confirm the same.

As Trump remains unable to wriggle out of the Iran war, Xi once again invoked the Thucydides Trap, a historical term that warns of conflict between a rising power and an established superpower.

As far as the trade front is concerned, both countries agreed to extend their last year’s trade truce until January 10 next year.

However, no clear assurance was forthcoming from China as far as regular supply of rare earths to U.S. is concerned.

While Trump remains silent on going ahead with the arms deal with Taiwan, Xinhua claimed that Xi raised this issue during the bilateral talks.

According to this report, Xi expressed hope that Washington would oppose Taiwan’s independence and prudently handle the Taiwan question to lay a foundation for China-U.S. strategic cooperation.

With Xi set to depart from U.S. in a short while from now on, suspense remains over whether both sides release a joint statement on the future trajectory of their bilateral ties…