© EPA-EFE/HOW HWEE YOUNG Xi will arrive at the meeting after cementing a new reality in US-China relations: China will negotiate, but will not be intimidated.
For the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, a notable conference with the US president, Donald Trump, this week offers a chance to illustrate what Beijing has persistently pursued: that China is an equal counterpart to the United States on the international arena, writes CNN .
Trump’s commercial conflict with China has tested Xi’s aspirations for advancement and originality, yet it has also given Beijing an unforeseen opportunity to exhibit its financial strength.
While a majority of nations sought to conciliate Trump and negotiate a decrease in the levies he imposed this past spring, China countered with its own actions against the United States, compelling both parties to convene at the discussion table to achieve a levy ceasefire.
In recent times, subsequent to the US restricting China’s access to US technology and aiming at China’s maritime sector, Beijing reacted by revealing a substantial broadening of export regulations on vitally essential rare earth elements — an action that has worried Washington and incited Trump to threaten supplementary 100% duties.
Both parties seem to have withdrawn from further intensification after weekend trade conversations in Malaysia.
Xi and Trump are slated to assemble on Thursday, October 30, alongside an international gathering in South Korea — their initial in-person meeting from the start of Trump’s second term in the White House — where they are anticipated to concur on a structure for overseeing economic ties between the two nations.
It is still vague what allowances the nations have consented to, and this is solely one examination in the intricate and unstable rivalry between the two dominant global powers.
But it will similarly be a juncture when Xi attends the meeting having solidified a fresh reality in US-China relations: China will parley, but won’t be daunted.
“ China is very composed ”
All this isn’t to suggest that the risks aren’t substantial for Xi.
Instead of the US and China collaborating to tackle universal threats as the G2 — the globe’s most potent economies — Beijing observes the States endeavoring to impede its advancement through duties, technological export restrictions, and political maneuvering.
Present US tariffs (averaging 50%) on Chinese goods are exerting strain on China’s already weakening economy, and they could amplify beyond twofold should leaders fail to discover mutual ground.
But while American representatives commend Trump’s aptitude to “establish leverage” to pressurize China, Beijing likewise observes the triumph of its strategy.
China deems it is equipped for this struggle: it has attained leverage through its strategic supremacy in the worldwide rare earths supply chain, has broadened commerce to diminish its reliance on the US market, and is striving to hasten innovation that will permit it to detach from American goods such as high-tech semiconductors.
Beijing was “thoroughly prepared” for how Trump might operate against China after returning to the White House, says Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Relations at Renmin University of China in Beijing.
“But from the US aspect, any duties or measures enacted by the Chinese side have aided President Trump himself in understanding that China’s capacity is unlike what it was eight years prior… and he comprehends: what has shifted is that the US is no longer a commanding power,” Wang stated.
Beijing is likewise persisting in its efforts to safeguard itself from upcoming jolts, including as an element of a scheme to deepen technological and industrial self-reliance.
“China is very composed concerning all these disputes and complications crafted by the United States. The United States remains a vital associate, but within the context of China, the United States is forfeiting its significance,” remarked Wang Wen of the think tank at Renmin University of China.
Two “potent leaders”
Both sides transmitted affirmative indicators after trade dialogues over the weekend, with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant recommending that Beijing postpone the introduction of a fresh rare earth export control arrangement, while the US retracted its menace of 100% duties and prolonged a prior tariff ceasefire.
But China itself has not rendered such declarations, and there is still a danger that Trump and Xi will not be able to achieve an agreement or that some unwise remark will shatter the fragile easing of strains. And, as is frequently the scenario in Trump diplomacy, much might hinge on the comprehension between the two leaders, who last convened in 2019. This dynamic was apparent, for example, on Tuesday, October 28, in Japan, where Trump “reached out” to the country’s new conservative premier, Sanae Takaichi, and pledged that should Tokyo require any assistance, the United States would stand ready to supply it.
Analysts surmise that Xi’s crucial precedence when convening with Trump will be to advocate for the US to diminish tariffs and lift export controls. To attain this, he may be amenable to alleviate or defer new export limitations on rare earth elements.
Whether this will function in reality will be recognized on Thursday at a gathering where Beijing anticipates Trump will treat Xi with the regard and warmth he has articulated in recent months and throughout the electoral campaign.
China’s paramount diplomat Wang Yi subtly reminded us of this in a phone discourse with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday, October 27.
Xi and Trump are “both world-class leaders who have been interacting with each other for a considerable duration and treat each other with deference,” Wang stated.
“Adhering to the ethos of parity, regard, and mutual gain is a crucial prerequisite for progressing bilateral ties,” he appended.
Dramatic analysts view the forthcoming Trump-Xi summit as near decisive for the future of the global order, albeit it is indistinct where such anticipations originate. On the docket are soybeans, Taiwan, rare earth metals, Russian oil, Russia’s war against Ukraine, duties. At present, there is no discourse, even hypothetically, of renewing the global security or trade architecture.
“Trump’s fluctuations”, which have become the characteristic of his second presidential term, do not permit us to grasp all the subtleties of the scheme — initially proclaiming 100% duties and voicing reservations regarding the necessity for a meeting, and subsequently characterizing the head of the PRC as a potent leader with whom we simply need to negotiate. From China’s perspective, everything is more explicit: China will triumph in any scenario in which the US retreats from the world, Serhiy Korsunsky penned for ZN.UA. Regarding the backstage of Chinese policy on the eve of Trump’s meeting with Xi — in the article “ The Big Cleaning Before the Big Stage: How Xi Sets the Scenes for the Meeting with Trump ”.
