Prospects for positive breakthroughs and stabilization of the US-China relationship will remain limited as long as the two sides are focused more on maneuvering for advantage than on working to define the concept.
"Trump is clearly interested in pursuing a good relationship with President Xi," Council Director of Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Craig Kafura tells NewsNation. "Now it's up to the working levels to see if they can make some of that top-down blessing produce real fruit."
"Trump’s approach to China lacks coherence, consistency, and consensus within his administration on what strategy and policies to follow," Council Senior Nonresident Fellow Paul Heer writes.
Reports that Xi will forgo addressing the United Nations General Assembly ahead of his meeting with Trump in Washington raise uncomfortable questions about the role of multilateral institutions under great power compacts.
The KMT leader’s recent visit to the United States underscores how rigid US-Taiwan policy has become, Council Senior Nonresident Fellow Paul Heer writes.
"By demonstrating how AI can render democracies more efficient and better able to deliver, the United States can offer a counterweight to China’s authoritarian efficacy," Council Lester Crown Senior Nonresident Fellow Suzanne Nossel writes.