Guno צְבִי
We fight, We win, Am Yisrael Chai
Donald Trump hoped his pomp-filled summit with Xi Jinping in Washington last week would showcase the strength of his personal relationship with the Chinese leader.
Instead, the limited outcomes showed just how far apart Washington and Beijing remain on key issues, and reinforced a view among analysts that Xi sees little reason to grant Trump major political victories ahead of November's midterm elections.
"The US-China relationship has settled into a managed stalemate," said Craig Singleton, senior director for China at US-based think tank, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
"The elaborate pageantry matters precisely because there is still relatively little substantive progress to showcase."
Both sides said they reached consensus on lowering tariffs for a $60 billion batch of non-sensitive goods, but there was no timeline for adoption. At the same time, a deadline for a broader trade accord was pushed into next year.
The absence of a Chinese CEO delegation accompanying Xi also highlighted the challenges of overcoming US suspicion of Chinese investment, casting doubt on the viability of a two-way investment scheme the leaders unveiled at a Beijing summit in May, analysts said.
But while the uneventful meeting capped off a diplomatic week that exposed the limits of Trump's powers, Joe Mazur, geopolitics analyst at Beijing-based consultancy Trivium, said it served as a "PR win" for China, said .
From the outset, Trump went out of his way to fete Xi - the leader of a country he has previously said is "killing America" with unfair trade practices.
He broke protocol to greet him at the airport, the first time a US president has done so for a world leader in 11 years.
"The extraordinary courtesy the Americans extended to Xi Jinping met and far exceeded China's expectations," said Shen Weizhong, a former Chinese foreign ministry official and vice president of Beijing-based think tank Global Governance Institution.
"The Chinese do not feel that a visit necessarily has to result in a specific number of agreements, or in tariff reductions or other such outcomes ... The mere fact that they meet, nod to one another, and shake hands speaks volumes."
Instead, the limited outcomes showed just how far apart Washington and Beijing remain on key issues, and reinforced a view among analysts that Xi sees little reason to grant Trump major political victories ahead of November's midterm elections.
"The US-China relationship has settled into a managed stalemate," said Craig Singleton, senior director for China at US-based think tank, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
"The elaborate pageantry matters precisely because there is still relatively little substantive progress to showcase."
Both sides said they reached consensus on lowering tariffs for a $60 billion batch of non-sensitive goods, but there was no timeline for adoption. At the same time, a deadline for a broader trade accord was pushed into next year.
The absence of a Chinese CEO delegation accompanying Xi also highlighted the challenges of overcoming US suspicion of Chinese investment, casting doubt on the viability of a two-way investment scheme the leaders unveiled at a Beijing summit in May, analysts said.
'PR WIN' FOR CHINA
White House officials had tempered expectations before the summit, pointing out that the leaders would also meet at international forums in Shenzen and Miami before year end.But while the uneventful meeting capped off a diplomatic week that exposed the limits of Trump's powers, Joe Mazur, geopolitics analyst at Beijing-based consultancy Trivium, said it served as a "PR win" for China, said .
From the outset, Trump went out of his way to fete Xi - the leader of a country he has previously said is "killing America" with unfair trade practices.
He broke protocol to greet him at the airport, the first time a US president has done so for a world leader in 11 years.
"The extraordinary courtesy the Americans extended to Xi Jinping met and far exceeded China's expectations," said Shen Weizhong, a former Chinese foreign ministry official and vice president of Beijing-based think tank Global Governance Institution.
"The Chinese do not feel that a visit necessarily has to result in a specific number of agreements, or in tariff reductions or other such outcomes ... The mere fact that they meet, nod to one another, and shake hands speaks volumes."
