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Trump-Xi summit: tactical concessions but little strategic breakthrough
Both Beijing and Washington can claim some kind of victory from the summit without giving up much
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Published Sun, May 17, 2026 · 03:34 PM
A COMMON refrain in international politics is that the “enemy of my enemy is my friend”.
Over five decades ago, a detente between the United States and China was made possible because the Soviet Union represented the common threat that both Washington and Beijing faced. This is no longer the case today.
While discussions at the recently concluded Trump-Xi summit in Beijing, which took place from May 14 to 15, covered predictable terrain, from trade to geopolitics, the fact of the matter is that the strategic interests of the US and China remain wholly incompatible.
