Chinese leader Xi Jinping opened Wednesday’s high-stakes meeting with President Trump by ominously raising the prospect of a future war between the US and China.
Xi referenced a geopolitical concept known as the Thucydides trap, or the risks that arise when an emerging power challenges a stronger, more established power.
“The whole world is watching our meeting,” Xi began inside Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, with Trump seated across the table.
“Currently, transformation not seen in a century is accelerating across the globe, and the international situation is fluid and turbulent,” he continued, according to one translation of his remarks. “The world has come to a new crossroads.
“Can China and the United States overcome the Thucydides trap and create a new paradigm of major country relations? Can we meet global challenges together and provide more stability for the world? Can we, in the interest of the well-being of our two peoples and the future of humanity, build a brighter future together for our bilateral relations?”
Xi has referred to the Thucydides trap, a term coined by Harvard professor Graham Allison, since at least 2014 regarding the US. The concept was named after ancient Greek historian Thucydides, who wrote that the rise of Athens put Sparta in such a defensive posture that war was inevitable.
Xi described the issues facing the US and China as “questions vital to history” and to “the world and to the people.”
Trump, who spoke after Xi, didn’t specifically address his counterpart’s remarks but predicted: “The relationship between China and the USA is going to be better than ever before.”
“It’s an honor to be with you. It’s an honor to be your friend,” Trump said.
“I really look very much forward to our discussion,” he added. “It’s a big discussion. There are those that say, this is maybe the biggest summit ever.”
The two delegations met for about two hours inside the Great Hall.
Some experts, however, did not interpret Xi’s remarks as foreboding.
“What Xi Jinping said in that speech is that we can transcend the Thucydides trap,” Sky News Asia correspondent Helen-Ann Smith said. “So what he’s saying is that, you know, ‘We are an upcoming power and you should not be threatened by us.’
“That’s his key message.”
Ahead of the meeting, Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged Xi’s ambitions but was adamant that China’s “rise cannot come at our expense.”
“They believe they will be the world’s most powerful country, they’ll surpass the United States, and they have a plan to do it, and they’re executing on that plan, and I don’t blame them,” Rubio said in an interview with Fox News’ “Hannity.”
Rubio insisted the Trump administration is “not trying to constrain China” but would also not allow it to attain power and influence at the expense of the US.
“Their rise cannot come at our fall. So there’s an area where we’re just going to have a difference of opinion,” Rubio said.
“That’ll come up on this trip,” the top US diplomat added, “but more importantly, that’ll be a feature of this relationship for a long time.”
With Post wires
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