Trump and Xi Hold First Face-to-Face Meeting, Signal Desire to Stabilize Relations
Busan, Korea – October โ30th – In a hastily arranged meetingโค onโ the sidelines of the APEC summit, U.S. President Donald Trump and โChinese President Xi Jinping held their first face-to-face โdiscussions, signaling a potential shift towardsโค managing theโ increasingly strained relationship between the two nations.
The โคmeeting, described as โ”not very long” and focused on “fairly narrow, โnon-strategic issues,” comesโ after a period of escalating tensions,โ including a prolonged tradeโ war. While specific agreements โreached require further negotiation, both sides conveyed a commitment to preventing further deterioration in relations.
A key outcome of the meeting is the agreement to establish a calendarโข of continuing high-level engagements,alongside a โseries of lower-level official discussions covering areas such as military-to-military โrelations,trade and investment,and law โฃenforcement cooperation.This represents the most long-termโข planning seen from the Trump administration to date, despiteโ its reputation for unpredictability.
President โTrump โคappears “determined to keep โhis ‘fantastic relationship'” with xi and is reportedly “very โฃinvolved in decisionmaking” regarding โขChina policy,according to reports.
Recent public opinion โฃdata suggests a potential softening of attitudes towards โChina โwithin โขthe United states.A surveyโ by โthe chicago Council on World Affairs indicates thatโค support for engagement โคandโ cooperation with China has risen from 40% last year to 53% recently, perhaps reflecting a growing awareness of the costs associated with continued confrontation.
Despite the positive signals,analysts cautionโ that notable challenges remain in transforming the current “truce” into a more comprehensive framework for bilateral relations. the underlying competitive dynamicsโฃ between the U.S. and China areโข expected โto โฃpersist, and maintaining theโ current trajectory will require a “disciplined process” – something the Trump administration has historically struggled with. Without suchโ a process, โcycles of engagement followedโ by deterioration may continue.
Source: Brookings Institution analysis of โฃthe meetingโ and โขrelated developments.