A PROJECTION OF STRENGTH
For those seeking further evidence of China’s projection of strength, they needed only to look at the diplomatic calendar immediately following Mr Trump’s departure. Beijing confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin would arrive for a state visit on Tuesday (May 19).
While the proximity of the two visits was technically coincidental – Mr Trump’s trip having been delayed from March due to the US-Israeli war against Iran – the sequencing was anything but.
It was an astute showcase of Beijing as an indispensable geopolitical pivot point, hosting the American president one week and cementing its strategic partnership with Moscow the next.
With Mr Xi and Mr Trump scheduled to meet at least three more times this year, more hard bargaining will define the coming months. But for now, Beijing has the advantage of setting the tone for future meetings.
In 2010, under President Hu Jintao, China first floated the concept of “a new model of great power relations” to promote mutual respect, an initiative Xi Jinping renewed in 2013.
For over a decade, successive US presidents dismissively ignored the offer. Today, with China operating as a peer, Washington no longer has the luxury of looking away.
Wang Xiangwei is a former Editor-in-Chief of South China Morning Post. He now teaches journalism at Hong Kong Baptist University.
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