What China Really Thinks About America Right Now

Podcast Deep Dish on Global Affairs Podcast
Trump and Xi are meeting in Beijing to try to reset US-China relations at a moment of growing instability. Oriana Skylar Mastro breaks down China’s ambitions and what could come next.
Trump and Xi Play Podcast
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About The Episode

As Trump and Xi meet for a high-stakes summit amid rising tensions over trade, technology, and Taiwan, the US-China relationship is entering another uncertain phase. Stanford University’s Oriana Skylar Mastro explains what China ultimately wants, why Beijing may view the United States as increasingly distracted, and what the summit could mean for the future balance of power. 

About the Speakers
Oriana Skylar Mastro 
Center Fellow and Director of the Indo-Pacific Policy Lab, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University
Oriana Skylar Mastro Head Shot
Dr. Oriana Skylar Mastro is a Center Fellow and Director of the Indo-Pacific Policy Lab at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Courtesy Assistant Professor of Political Science at Stanford University. She is also a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Oriana Skylar Mastro Head Shot
Leslie Vinjamuri
President & Chief Executive Officer, Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Leslie Vinjamuri headshot
Dr. Leslie Vinjamuri joined the Council in 2025 as the president and chief executive officer, after previously serving as director of the US and the Americas program at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, known as Chatham House, in London. She is Professor of Practice in International Studies and Diplomacy at SOAS University of London.
Leslie Vinjamuri headshot
Issues Global Politics
Regions China
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