President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday. This will be their first meeting since Trump moved back into the White House. This meeting comes at an important time. Given the environmental and social calamities taking place amid intensifying U.S.-China tensions, our discussion couldn’t be more timely.
That meeting will occur in an atmosphere of growing tension between the two countries. Issues such as trade disputes, military maneuvers in the South China Sea, and technology competition have all contributed to a strained relationship. Meanwhile, Trump and Xi are preparing for their own important bilateral talks. Indeed, both sides see the extraordinary stakes involved in these talks.
Although this meeting is always meaningful, this year’s is particularly significant. It provides each head of state an opportunity to address longstanding disputes and pursue meaningful resolutions. The decision to hold the meeting in South Korea makes the whole situation even more difficult. Its geopolitical and economic importance in the region looms large in making this decision. South Korea is already on edge with its own tensions with North Korea. At the same time, it serves as a strategic counterbalance and ally of the U.S. in a precarious relationship with China.
Neither man can produce immediate improvements to the boiling tensions between their two countries. At least, that’s what it sounds like on the surface. Trump wants to win a good trade deal. In parallel, Xi seeks to position China as the primary global challenger to American leadership in their continued rivalry.
As it stands, this meeting may redefine U.S.-China relations to an unprecedented degree. It will change the overall balance of the geo-political order in Asia for many years. Observers are keenly watching how both leaders will approach sensitive subjects and whether they can find common ground amid their differences.