Trump and Xi Can't Fix US-China Rivalry, History Shows — SkimNews
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- Trump-Xi summits have so far managed but not resolved the rivalry — the May Beijing summit produced only what Xi called "constructive strategic stability," while both sides continue "chokehold" diplomacy exploiting critical supply chains
- The September 23 Washington summit will face the same constraints that limited the May meeting, since neither leader is suited to the bargaining the rivalry demands
- Xi Jinping equates compromise with weakness and cannot grasp the give-a-little-to-get-a-little logic of diplomacy, while Donald Trump is "contradictory and impetuous," with his pandering side in tension with his belligerent side
- Past breakthroughs depended on rare personal chemistry: Henry Kissinger's intellectual admiration for Zhou Enlai in 1971, Jimmy Carter's relaxed congeniality with Deng Xiaoping in 1979 broadcast live on Chinese television, and Bill Clinton's jovial 1998 joint appearance with Jiang Zemin after a 21-gun salute near Tiananmen Square
- The May Beijing courtship was "strikingly one-sided" — Trump called Xi "a great leader" and said it was "an honor" to be his "friend," but Xi remained "characteristically aloof," offering only "a meager display of rapport"
- When Air Force One landed in Beijing, Trump was greeted not by Xi but by Vice President Han Zheng, who ranks only eighth in the party hierarchy — a signal that Xi would not readily yield to Trump's supplications
Why it matters: The article argues that structural U.S.-China hostility will persist because the diplomatic breakthroughs of 1972, 1979, and 1998 required a personal chemistry — intellectual respect, humor, and genuine warmth between leaders — that Trump and Xi demonstrably lack, leaving trade frictions, supply-chain weaponization, and adversarial posturing as the default.
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