THE meeting between Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, was announced barely a week before it was to be held, suggesting difficult problems ahead. Almost simultaneously, Mr Trump tweeted: "The meeting next week with China will be a very difficult one."

Indeed, the difficulties are likely to be much greater than the American president expects. Mr Trump has zero experience in government, in diplomacy or in the military. He has no overall global policy and no Asia regional policy into which to fit a China policy.

His foreign policy team is not in place. Aside from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the upper ranks of the State Department remain unfilled. The one person with experience whom Mr Tillerson wanted as his deputy, Elliott Abrams, was rejected because he had criticised Mr Trump.