It may not have been the Richard Nixon moment in US-China relations but US President Donald Trump and his delegation found out in the course of two days that their hosts can be charming as well as business like when dealing with issues of importance.
Chinese President Xi Jinping rolled out the red carpet, extended a cordial welcome but ensured that he did not bend over backwards to please his visitor.
In fact one of the first things Xi did was not to invoke famous Chinese philosophers but to caution the US of the Thucydides Trap — the Greek historian who argued that rising powers seeking to displace established ones leads to conflict.
“Can China and the United States transcend the so-called Thucydides Trap and forge a new paradigm for major power relations?” Xi posed.
Xi was pretty blunt on Taiwan. “The Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-US relations. If mishandled, the two nations could collide or even come into conflict…”. For some strange reason this part of the conversation was absent in the White House readouts. All that Trump told reporters on Air Force One was: “On Taiwan, he (President Xi) feels very strongly. I made no commitment either way”.
Taiwan tangle
Taiwan has always been a thorn in Washington-Beijing relations with the latter making no bones of the fact that the island nation is nothing more than a renegade province which will have to be re-united with the Motherland, by military means if need be. The One China Policy that the US subscribes to has strong unofficial relations, with the Taiwan Relations Act showing the way for the sale of defensive weapons.
Indo Pacific worries
But what has been bothering Official Taiwan as also other nations in the Indo Pacific are the changing facets of American commitment to the defence of the Indo Pacific.
Put differently, the question that frequently comes up especially in unofficial circles is: in an anxiety to come to terms on the trade front, would Washington throw Taiwan and the Indo Pacific under the bus?
And Trump has added a huge element of uncertainty by asking if the US would want to travel 9,500 miles to fight a war with China. “When you look at the odds, China is a very, very powerful, big country. That’s a very small island. Think of it; it’s 59 miles away. We’re 9,500 miles away. That’s a little bit of a difficult problem… I’m not looking for somebody to go independent (meaning Taiwan) and we’re supposed to travel 9,500 miles to fight a war. I’m not looking for that,” the US President said in an interview to Fox News.
Iran factor
It is unclear as well what Trump came away from his meetings on Iran except his statement that Beijing wants to have the Strait of Hormuz open and that Xi would not sell weapons to Tehran. Independent analysts have long maintained that officially there is no military hardware getting through especially since the war began; but Iran has been getting supplies from third parties.
But Official China has once again said, “There is no point in continuing this conflict, which should not have happened in the first place”.
Trade: Short on specifics
Trump has also spoken of “fantastic trade deals” which again lacks specifics or confirmations from China. All that has been heard of is Boeing getting an order for 250 passenger jets and looking at another 750; and American farmers looking at “billions of dollars in soybeans”.
No word on tariffs that the two countries have been going back and forth since February 2025 as also real breakthrough on rare earths.
As the US and Trump shift their sights to the return visit of Xi this September, it remains to be seen if the $14 billion arms sales planned to Taiwan will be the wrecking ball.
The writer is a senior journalist who has reported from Washington DC on North America and United Nations
Published on May 19, 2026