President Donald Trump has arrived in Beijing for a pivotal summit with President Xi Jinping, marking his first visit to China since 2017. This meeting takes place at a critical juncture as the world’s largest economies are at the crossroads of trade routes, technological rivalry and the looming shadow of the war in the Middle East.
Although the US and China are having economic disputes, yet they’re mutually over dependent. The summit is centered on this paradox of mutual dependence. While both states seek greater autonomy, they remain tied to the US monopoly over international transactions in dollars and China’s dominance in the rare earth metals which are very much crucial for the technological advancements. Moreover, China relies on US capital and markets and the US remains dependent on Chinese manufacturing.
The US/Israel and Iran conflict started in March have caused instability in the Strait of Hormuz, which also requires an urgent priority. It is expected that President Donald Trump might pressure China to leverage its influence over Tehran, as China imports almost 80 percent of its crude oil from Iran. Both states desire to have stable energy flows from the region, but it is less likely that Beijing will incline toward Washington to pressurize Tehran because the pressure mounting more on the US.
President Trump is stuck in a tight position as he is focused on securing tangible economic outcome ahead of the November midterm elections. For this objective he wants to secure a trade deal with China over purchases of American soybeans, beef and Boeing aircraft. Furthermore, he wants to negotiate with Beijing to ease export control on critical minerals and rare earth metals essential to the US technological sectors. There is also a talk of managing the fallout of trade barriers that have exceeded 100 percent.
Whereas , while favoring President Trump over critical trade, President Xi is expected to push for US restrictions on advanced semi-conductors and chip-making technology. The objective of these restrictions was to slow down China’s military and AI technology development.
However, there is an existential bone of contention between the US and China and that is Taiwan. Beijing is persistently increasing its military pressure over the island and Washington is also committed to ensure the right of self-defense to Taiwan, this summit will also be analyzed over this issue whether Taiwan will become a bargaining chip or not.
Therefore, President Trump will go to all ends to secure a deal for face-saving, as the public opinion is highly critical of Trump after Iran war. For President Xi, the goal is to preserve national dignity and economic predictability without appearing to take US pressure.
