Trump-Xi summit buys 100 days of calm that South-east Asia could use

IN FEBRUARY 1950, in the dark days of the Cold War, Winston Churchill coined the term “summit”, when advocating for a talk with the Soviet Union at the highest level. The British statesman said it was “not easy to see how matters could be worsened by a parley at the summit”.

Sometimes, diplomacy asks us to be content with very little. The meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington on Thursday (Sep 24) was one of those occasions.

Why there is reason for relief

No grand bargain was struck. No breakthrough on Taiwan or Iran. No settlement of the disputes over rare earths, semiconductor control or the wider trade relationship.