This episode unpacks President Donald Trump’s upcoming summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, the first by a sitting U.S. President in nearly a decade, as the United States and China work through a tense period of détente.

Host:

James M. Lindsay, Mary and David Boies Distinguished Senior Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy, CFR

Guest:

Rush Doshi, C.V. Starr Senior Fellow for Asia Studies and Director of the China Strategy Initiative

We Discuss:

Whether the Trump-Xi summit will represent continuity or a new phase in the U.S.-China relationship.
How China assesses the military and economic balance of power with the United States.
What last year's trade war revealed and how it produced the current period of managed competition.
As Rush Doshi puts it: “I don’t think there’s going to be a large structural breakthrough.”
What deliverables the Trump administration is seeking from the summit, and why negotiations are focused on process mechanisms and stability.
How China has responded to the U.S.-Iran war and why it has stayed on the sidelines despite having clear strategic interests.
Why China welcomes U.S. entanglement in foreign conflicts but fears their effects on global trade and resource access.
Why China is more exposed than the United States freedom of navigation threats and naval chokepoints.
Why President Biden never traveled to Beijing, and how China is framing Trump's visit.
Why American CEOs are joining Trump's trip, and what role they play in the summit.
Whether the U.S. and China will negotiate agreements on artificial intelligence and its role in great power competition.
How China has treated seemingly mutually-beneficial crisis communication channels as negotiation ploys in return for U.S. concessions.
Whether Taiwan will be on the agenda, what concessions China is seeking, and how U.S. policy shifts could affect internal Taiwanese politics on unification.
How a so-called Board of Trade and other bilateral mechanisms could formalize a lasting state of managed trade between the two countries

Mentioned on the Episode:

“President Xi Jinping Speaks with U.S. President Donald J. Trump on the Phone” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Evelyn Cheng, “Trump is taking more than a dozen U.S. executives to China. Jensen Huang isn’t one of them,” CNBC

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/presidents-inbox/trump-and-xi-in-beijing-with-rush-doshi

Opinions expressed on The President’s Inbox are solely those of the host or guests, not of CFR, which takes no institutional positions on matters of policy.