Expectations are low for breakthroughs when Xi Jinping meets President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., this week.
If China remains intransigent during the high-stakes diplomacy, it will be time for America to end decades of dialogue with Beijing.
The Trump administration is setting the bar low for the summit. A continuation of last Octobers trade truce, reached when the two leaders met in South Korea, is the most that officials are now hoping for. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has been talking with a Chinese delegation about an extension. The truce expires Nov. 10.
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The Chinese should be happy with no disruption in the relationship. On Thursday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in the words of Chinas Global Times, that “China-US relations have generally moved along the path toward a constructive relationship of strategic stability.”
Of course, China wants “stability.” The Chinese side, in a stable environment, will be able to continue dangerous and unacceptable conduct, such as selling fentanyl, stealing U.S. intellectual property, engaging in predatory trade practices, supporting Russias war in Ukraine, maintaining secret police stations on American soil. And helping Iran kill American service personnel in the Persian Gulf.
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China has made its satellites available to that regime for targeting U.S. forces. On March 1, Iran almost certainly used that targeting data to kill six American service members in Kuwait. In July, Iran again relied upon Chinese satellite data to kill three more Americans, this time in Jordan. Washingtons China diplomacy has completely failed.
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It is not hard to see why. American leaders have been pursuing dialogue with China since the early 1970s, when U.S. diplomats literally chased their Chinese counterparts to set up the summit in Beijing between President Richard Nixon and Chinese Chairman Mao Zedong.
Americas ardent desire to maintain dialogue has fed the already inflated sense of self-importance of Chinese leaders. Not surprisingly, this approach over the course of decades has coincided with â and almost certainly been the cause of â a marked deterioration in Chinese behavior.
President Trump traveled to Beijing for a summit with Xi in May and made little discernible progress on contentious issues, so what more can be accomplished now?
At some point, the United States needs to lose patience. For one thing, Xi Jinpings arrogance at the May summit was stunning. On the first day of the event, he publicly mentioned the Thucydides Trap, a reference to a declini
