US-China Summit Marks Key Effort to Ease Bilateral
Tensions
Political scientist Li Cheng says the meetings
have importance but they can’t tackle the fundamentals
·
The meeting took place during Trump’s state visit
to Beijing, the first by a US president since 2017.
·
Xi urged both countries to be “partners, not
rivals” and referenced the Thucydides Trap to stress the need to avoid
confrontation between major powers.
·
Xi said China and the US should:
o
Manage differences responsibly,
o
Cooperate on global challenges,
o
Promote global stability, and
o
Build a better future for bilateral ties.
·
Li described the talks as a “remarkable” and
potentially “historical” moment after years of strained relations.
·
He cited past flashpoints including:
o
Closure of consulates in 2020,
o
Rising trade and technology disputes,
o
Calls in Washington for economic decoupling from
China.
·
Li cautioned that one summit alone cannot
fundamentally change the long-term structure of US-China relations.
·
According to Li, tensions are driven mainly by US
concerns over China’s growing power and influence.
·
He said domestic political and social challenges in
the US have increased American anxiety about China’s rise.
·
Li noted that Trump’s positive remarks about China
and Xi could help shift the relationship toward a more cooperative tone.
·
He also stressed the need for US-China cooperation
on artificial intelligence, especially regarding the risks linked to the
militarisation of AI technology.
[ABS News Service/14.05.2026]
The
US-China summit is “extremely important” to arrest the downward spiral of relations
between the two countries, according to Li Cheng, a leading Chinese academic.
But
a summit would not be enough to change the overall structure of ties, which had
been fraught for years, Li said on Thursday as US President Donald Trump began the
first full day of his state visit to Beijing – the first by an American leader since
2017.
The
two presidents began the day with two hours of talks at the Great Hall of the People,
where Chinese leader Xi Jinping urged the two countries to be “partners, not rivals”.
Citing
the “Thucydides Trap”, Xi called on both two countries to bear responsibility to
manage their ties.
“Can
China and the US transcend the Thucydides Trap and create a new paradigm for major
power relations? Can they work together to address global challenges and inject
more stability into the world? Can they focus on the well-being of both peoples
and the future destiny of humanity to jointly create a bright future for bilateral
relations?” Xi said.
The
meeting is one of several Xi and Trump are expected to have this year – a year that
Beijing has said will be a big one for US-China relations.
Li,
professor of political science at the University of Hong Kong’s Centre on Contemporary
China and the World, said the talks were part of a “truly remarkable … or historical
day”.
“When
we look at the past nine years, US-China relations have gone through a lot of difficulties
and even dangers,” he said, citing past flashpoints including the closure of consulates
in 2020 and calls in Washington for a complete economic decoupling with Beijing.
But
no matter how significant the talks may be, they would do little to dramatically
change the trajectory of US-China relations, he cautioned.
“One
summit cannot change the whole [direction],” he said.
According
to Li, these structural tensions mainly stem from the fear in Washington of Beijing’s
“ever-growing power”.
The
US had lost its confidence, he said, citing its domestic woes, partisan politics
and racial tensions. “So therefore they fear. They are
very fearful of China,” he said.
“Whether
all the problems and tensions [with] the US will be completely gone? No, [they]
will not be completely gone,” he put it bluntly.
But
there could be signs of change. Li said Trump had called China a “great” country
and had praised Xi as a “great leader”, language that was crucial in shifting the
narrative from “treating China as an enemy to treating China as a friend”.
“Donald
Trump is the president of the United States. What he defined, what he said, it’s
extremely important,” Li said.
“He
is a powerful leader, he will want to carry out his own legacy or deliver what he
thinks is right and wrong.”
Li
also stressed the need for collaboration on artificial intelligence.
“The
US and China, as two superpowers in AI, need to take responsibility or a leadership
role to discuss these very urgent, very important issues,” he said, referring to
the militarisation of the technology.