Trump’s China Trip Underscores How Power Has Shifted

Time: “He may have descended Air Force One late Wednesday to the cheers of schoolchildren brandishing the Stars and Stripes, and flanked by tech’s most influential tycoons, but it didn’t take long for President Trump to be put in his place in Beijing. In the first closed-door discussions of the visit, Chinese President Xi Jinping issued a stinging rebuke regarding American arms sales to Taiwan…”

“Given that Trump explodes at even the most trifling perceived affront… it was telling that Xi felt empowered to lay down the law from the get-go… the optics of the U.S. President, for whom belligerence has long been a badge of honor, appearing awkward and cowed is a stark illustration of the shifting balance of global power.”

“More than anything, Trump looked strangely alone despite the phalanx of top executives traveling with him… Xi’s choice of words was again telling. China is never shy about trumpeting its ‘partnerships’ of various degrees with scores of nations across the planet, even if in truth these are never evenhanded and exclusively transactional.”

“But with Trump, Xi eschewed any semblance of partnership, merely advocated a framework of ‘constructive strategic stability,’ indicating he’s settled that the U.S. is a rival and, while not wanting ties to spiral, is confident in China’s ability to hold its own…”