The Trump-Xi meeting was heavy on pomp, light on substance. China is just fine with that

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Four months after their last meeting , President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping traded niceties during the Chinese leader’s first visit to the US capital in over a decade.

The two leaders extended a trade truce, exchanged gifts and compliments, and acknowledged the possibility of working together to contain the dangers of AI development.

For a historic summit meant to address rising tensions between the world’s largest economic and geopolitical powers, the Washington trip was relatively uneventful.

But for Xi’s own ambitions , China didn’t need much else.

At the White House state dinner Thursday, the Chinese leader emphasized the importance of cooperation, in remarks that framed China’s rise as a boon to America rather than a threat.

“The friendship between the two peoples is a worthy cause that holds great promise,” he said. “Let us join hands and move forward side by side.”

One key difference between May’s meeting and this one was the chaos surrounding Trump’s decision to bar some reporters from the White House, and the impact that had on images being broadcast – a stark contrast to the choreographed, government-approved coverage on Chinese state media.

The rhetoric, however, was by and large the same.

Xi likened Trump’s signature slogan, “Make America Great Again,” to his own plan for the “Great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” a decades-long strategic vision to transform China into a global powerhouse with world-class military, industrial and technological capabilities.

But his remarkable progress in achieving those objectives has prompted US officials to take protectionist measures, including restrictions on Chinese imports, investment and use of US technology.

Despite what Beijing sees as an attempt to constrain its advancement, China has maintained record exports, strong AI and robotics development, and a firm grip on goods and materials that the US needs, such as rare earth metals.

All that grants Xi far more leverage than he had during his last time in Washington, which means that style over substance may be enough for him – for now.

Given how US-China clashes have upended global geopolitics and supply chains, a stabilization in their relationship earlier this year was already a win to many observers.

But this state visit was largely a muted replay of Trump’s time in Beijing in May, which featured grand symbolic gestures without many concrete actions.

Since then Trump has faced increasing political pressure, from the protracted war with Iran and rising inflation, ahead of midterms in November .

Major TV news networks did not air the meeting, after Trump barred reporters from CNN, MS Now and Politico from the White House press pool. While a court later overturned the ban, Trump’s actions raised concerns among US and Chinese officials over how the summit would be perceived, according to CNN reporting.

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Unlike Trump in Beijing, Xi traveled to Washington without a cabal of business executives. Cui Hongjian, an international relations scholar with Beijing Foreign Studies University, told CNN the lack of corporate representation indicated that the US-China relationship had yet to make any substantial breakthroughs in business or trade.

“Right now, both sides are still in a phase where they want to stabilize the political situation a bit more,” Cui said.

There were also concerns in Beijing that some of Trump’s team were less positive about US-China relations than the US president, Wu Xinbo, a Chinese Foreign Ministry adviser, told CNN.

Xi said Thursday that he hoped the US would welcome Chinese companies and business. In his speech, Trump also detailed a long history of trade and friendship between the US and China.

“President Xi and I both understand that we represent different systems, but the ties between our people endure. We’ve never gotten along better,” he said.

But beyond the red-carpet welcome and flowery praise, core contentions remained.

One of Xi’s main priorities is to chip away at US support for Taiwan, which Beijing considers a part of its territory. Bringing the island democracy under Communist Party control is a key component of Xi’s goal for Chinese rejuvenation.

In closed-door discussions, the Chinese leader pressed Trump to “oppose” Taiwan’s independence, according to state news agency Xinhua . The US has long been intentionally ambiguous about its stance on Taiwan’s sovereignty, though it is obligated to sell it weapons for self-defense, under the Taiwan Relations Act.

China has previously warned that supporting Taiwan independence could lead to military conflict. The US has not issued a statement on Thursday’s meeting.

Xi also called on the US to responsibly manage the development of artificial intelligence with China. The ability of cutting-edge AI models to break out of human control has spurred calls for greater oversight, particularly for the US and China as the world’s leading players.

While the leaders of America’s biggest AI companies, OpenAI and Anthropic, have agreed that the race to develop better models needs to slow down, Trump has claimed that the fears over AI are a “hoax” that benefits China .

The rapid advancement of Chinese AI, despite US tech export controls, has caused alarm among US officials, who accused Chinese companies of essentially ripping off US models and raised the possibility of sanctions. China threatened to take countermeasures if the US tries to hinder Chinese AI.

But on Thursday, Xi’s message was that the relationship didn’t have to come to that. “We should coexist in peace,” he said.

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在上次会晤四个月后，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普和中国国家主席习近平在习近平十多年来首次访问美国首都期间进行了寒暄。

两国领导人延长了贸易休战期，互赠礼物和赞扬，并承认有可能合作遏制人工智能发展带来的风险。

这次历史性的峰会旨在解决世界最大经济和地缘政治大国之间日益紧张的局势，但华盛顿之行却相对平静无波。

但就习近平的个人野心而言，中国并不需要其他东西。

周四在白宫国宴上，中国领导人强调了合作的重要性，他的讲话将中国的崛起描述为对美国的福音而不是威胁。

他说：“两国人民之间的友谊是一项崇高的事业，前景广阔。让我们携手并进，共同前进。”

五月的那次会晤与这次会晤的一个关键区别在于，特朗普禁止一些记者进入白宫的决定造成了混乱，并对电视画面的播出产生了影响——这与中国官方媒体精心策划、政府批准的报道形成了鲜明对比。

然而，措辞大体上是相同的。

习近平将特朗普的标志性口号“让美国再次伟大”比作他自己的“中华民族伟大复兴”计划，这是一项长达数十年的战略愿景，旨在将中国转变为拥有世界一流军事、工业和技术能力的全球强国。

但他在实现这些目标方面取得的显著进展促使美国官员采取保护主义措施，包括限制中国进口商品、投资和使用美国技术。

尽管北京方面认为这是试图限制中国的发展，但中国仍然保持着创纪录的出口额、强大的人工智能和机器人技术发展，并牢牢掌握着美国需要的商品和材料，例如稀土金属。

这一切都让习近平比上次在华盛顿时拥有更大的影响力，这意味着对他来说，形式大于实质可能就足够了——至少目前是这样。

鉴于中美冲突已经颠覆了全球地缘政治和供应链，今年早些时候两国关系的稳定对许多观察人士来说已经是一种胜利。

但这次国事访问很大程度上是特朗普5月份北京之行的低调重演，当时的访问以盛大的象征性姿态为主，而没有采取多少具体行动。

此后，特朗普面临着越来越大的政治压力，包括与伊朗旷日持久的战争以及11月中期选举前不断上涨的通货膨胀。

在特朗普禁止CNN、MS Now和Politico的记者进入白宫记者团后，各大电视新闻网均未播出此次会晤。尽管法院后来推翻了这项禁令，但据CNN报道，特朗普的举动引发了美中官员对峰会舆论走向的担忧。

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与特朗普在北京的访问不同，习近平此次访美并未携商界高管随行。北京外国语大学国际关系学者崔洪建告诉CNN，缺乏企业代表表明，中美关系在经贸领域尚未取得任何实质性突破。

“目前，双方都还处于希望进一步稳定政治局势的阶段，”崔说。

中国外交部顾问吴新波告诉美国有线电视新闻网（CNN），北京方面也担心，特朗普团队中的一些人对美中关系的看法不如美国总统乐观。

习近平周四表示，希望美国欢迎中国企业和商业活动。特朗普在讲话中也详细阐述了美中之间悠久的贸易和友谊历史。

他说：“我和习近平主席都明白我们代表的是不同的制度，但我们两国人民之间的联系是牢固的。我们之间的关系从未像现在这样融洽。”

但抛开红毯欢迎和溢美之词，核心争议依然存在。

习近平的主要任务之一是削弱美国对台湾的支持，北京视台湾为其领土的一部分。将台湾民主政体置于共产党控制之下，是习近平中华民族伟大复兴目标的关键组成部分。

据新华社报道，中国领导人在闭门会谈中敦促特朗普“反对”台湾独立。尽管根据《台湾关系法》，美国有义务向台湾出售自卫武器，但美国长期以来在台湾主权问题上的立场一直含糊不清。

中国此前曾警告，支持台湾独立可能导致军事冲突。美国尚未就周四的会晤发表声明。

习近平还呼吁美国负责任地与中国共同管理人工智能发展。尖端人工智能模型摆脱人类控制的能力引发了人们对加强监管的呼声，尤其对于作为世界领先者的美国和中国而言更是如此。

尽管美国最大的两家人工智能公司 OpenAI 和 Anthropic 的领导人都认为，开发更好模型的竞赛需要放缓，但特朗普却声称，对人工智能的担忧是一个“骗局”，有利于中国。

尽管美国实施了技术出口管制，但中国人工智能的快速发展仍引起了美国官员的警惕。他们指责中国企业抄袭美国模式，并提出了制裁的可能性。中国则威胁称，如果美国试图阻碍中国人工智能的发展，中国将采取反制措施。

但周四，习近平传递的信息是，两国关系不必走到那一步。“我们应该和平共处，”他说。