{"id":2821,"date":"2025-10-29T01:03:51","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T01:03:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/?p=2821"},"modified":"2025-10-29T01:03:51","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T01:03:51","slug":"can-trump-and-xi-strike-a-deal-foreign-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/?p=2821","title":{"rendered":"Can Trump and Xi Strike a Deal? \u2013 Foreign Policy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Welcome to\u00a0<em>Foreign Policy<\/em>\u2019s China Brief.<\/p>\n<p>The highlights this week:\u00a0U.S. President <strong>Donald Trump<\/strong> and Chinese President <strong>Xi Jinping<\/strong> agree to a \u201cframework\u201d ahead of a meeting on Thursday, Trump\u2019s relationship with Japanese Prime Minister <strong>Sanae Takaichi <\/strong>could stir tensions with Beijing, and government efforts to control a <strong>mosquito-borne disease<\/strong> draw backlash.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div data-nosnippet=\"\">\n<p>Welcome to\u00a0<em>Foreign Policy<\/em>\u2019s China Brief.<\/p>\n<p>The highlights this week:\u00a0U.S. President <strong>Donald Trump<\/strong> and Chinese President <strong>Xi Jinping<\/strong> agree to a \u201cframework\u201d ahead of a meeting on Thursday, Trump\u2019s relationship with Japanese Prime Minister <strong>Sanae Takaichi <\/strong>could stir tensions with Beijing, and government efforts to control a <strong>mosquito-borne disease<\/strong> draw backlash.<\/p>\n<div class=\"newsletter-unit-signup--shortcode-fallback\">\n<h2 class=\"dek-heading\">\n                <\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/category\/china-brief\/\">Sign up<\/a>  to receive China Brief in your inbox every Tuesday.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<form data-shortcode-newsletter=\"china_brief\" class=\"newsletter-unit-signup newsletter-unit-signup--shortcode email-capture--step-1 newsletter-unit-signup--shortcode-china_brief\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-china_brief newsletter-shortcode-china_brief\">\n<div class=\"show-on-email-capture--signed-up hide-from-newsletter-subscriber newsletter-unit-signup--shortcode--container\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-unit newsletter-row\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-china_brief\">\n<h2 class=\"dek-heading\">Sign up to receive China Brief in your inbox every Tuesday.<\/h2>\n<p>\n                        <button class=\"button\">Sign Up<\/button>\n                    <\/p>\n<div class=\"grid--flex newsletter-china_brief newsletter-signup-container\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"China Brief sign up form\" tabindex=\"0\">\n<div class=\"buttons\">\n<div class=\"hide-from-newsletter-subscriber privacy-policy-container\">\n<div class=\"privacy-policy-acknowledge\">\n<p><small>By submitting your email, you agree to the <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/privacy\/\" target=\"_blank\">Privacy Policy<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/termsofuse\/\" target=\"_blank\">Terms of Use<\/a> and to receive email correspondence from us. You may opt out at any time.<\/small><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\n    <label for=\"email-china_brief\">Enter your email<\/label><br \/>\n    <input type=\"email\" name=\"email\" class=\"hide-from-reg hide-from-sub\" id=\"email-china_brief\" aria-required=\"true\" required=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>    <button class=\"button button--signup \" data-newsletter-id=\"china_brief\" data-sourceid=\"In-article unit\" type=\"submit\"><br \/>\n      <span class=\"sign-up-text\">Sign Up<\/span><br \/>\n      <span class=\"loading-text\">Loading&#8230;<\/span><br \/>\n    <\/button>\n  <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<hr\/>\n<h3>What to Expect When Trump Meets Xi<\/h3>\n<p>U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has suggested that U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are ready to call a truce in their trade war when they meet in South Korea on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>Preparatory talks, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2025\/10\/26\/us\/trump-news\">according to Bessent<\/a>, have led to agreement on a \u201cframework\u201d that includes a pause on China\u2019s rare-earth sanctions, the final stamp on a deal to allow popular video app TikTok to continue operating in the United States, and Beijing\u2019s promise to buy U.S. soybeans. The Chinese side has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.caixinglobal.com\/2025-10-27\/us-and-china-reach-basic-consensus-in-kuala-lumpur-trade-talks-102375937.html\">putting<\/a> out similar positive signals, calling the talks candid and positive.<\/p>\n<p>Trump threatened <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/china\/trump-says-weighing-massive-increase-tariffs-chinese-imports-no-reason-meet-with-2025-10-10\/\">two weeks ago<\/a><\/u> to impose additional 100 percent tariffs on China after Beijing announced a rare-earth control regime that hit a sore spot for Washington. The U.S. tariffs were expected to take effect on Saturday, but markets were already <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/10\/12\/business\/trump-china-tariffs-global-markets.html\">skeptical<\/a> about them materializing\u2014dipping briefly after the announcement before rising again after he appeared to back off.<\/p>\n<p>Traders\u2019 confidence that Trump abandons threats rather than face the consequences\u2014the notion that \u201cTrump always chickens out\u201d\u2014may have been justified again. Perhaps likewise, the combination of U.S. and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lemonde.fr\/en\/economy\/article\/2025\/10\/27\/rare-earths-eu-threatens-retaliation-as-china-tightens-restrictions_6746813_19.html\">European Union pressure<\/a> is also giving China second thoughts about using its new rare-earth control regime.<\/p>\n<p>Still, the move rattled the United States. Since the rare-earth sanctions were announced, Trump administration officials have been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/10\/24\/trump-administration-investigating-chinas-compliance-with-2020-trade-deal\">consulting<\/a> China experts in the private sector for advice on finding sources of leverage over Beijing, many of which the White House has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.americanprogress.org\/article\/china-first-the-trump-administration-has-willfully-destroyed-u-s-levers-of-power-in-advance-of-the-apec-summit\/\">already undermined<\/a> since Trump took office in January.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on background, two of the experts consulted told <em>Foreign Policy<\/em> that the Trump officials were contemptuous of previous government research\u2014but their own ideas for potential leverage were out of date, such as targeting the Chinese <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bakerinstitute.org\/sites\/default\/files\/2013-08\/import\/EF-pub-RiseOfChinaTroner-120211-WEB.pdf\">supply of jet fuel<\/a>. Unlike the United States, China has moved to identify and often to fix dependencies on critical imports; for instance, Beijing now holds <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atlanticcouncil.org\/blogs\/energysource\/jet-fuel-china-and-lanthanum-a-hidden-risk-to-us-military-power-projection\/\">critical monopolies<\/a> on jet fuel production.<\/p>\n<p>The lack of an actual plan from the Trump administration\u2019s China hawks seems to have allowed the trade faction\u2014represented by figures such as Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick\u2014to come back into the ascendant. But I\u2019m still not certain that a real deal will come out of Thursday\u2019s Trump-Xi meeting rather than a temporary truce.<\/p>\n<p>Even if an agreement emerges this week, neither side is likely to keep it.<\/p>\n<p>On the U.S. side, sticking to a deal would depend on an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/10\/26\/us\/politics\/trump-erratic-foreign-policy.html\">increasingly erratic president<\/a>. Just this week, Trump shut down trade talks and imposed <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Politics\/trump-raises-tariffs-canada-10-after-reagan-ad\/story?id=126866712\">extra tariffs<\/a> on Canada, the third-largest U.S. trading partner, because a political advertisement made him mad. The U.S.-China relationship has multiple points of friction, any of which could set Trump off on any given week, just as the rare-earth controls did.<\/p>\n<p>Though Xi is a more stable leader than Trump, China has a poor record of keeping deals with the United States. Beijing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.piie.com\/blogs\/realtime-economics\/2022\/china-bought-none-extra-200-billion-us-exports-trumps-trade-deal\">didn\u2019t buy<\/a> any of the $200 billion in extra exports that it promised as part of the so-called Phase One trade deal struck during Trump\u2019s first term. And a 2015 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-asia-china-34360934\">cybersecurity truce<\/a> did nothing to prevent China\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/crs-product\/IF12798\">massive penetration<\/a> of U.S. infrastructure or <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/trump-china-hacking-obama-xi-agreement\/\">hacking of private companies<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The most likely outcome of Thursday\u2019s meeting, then, is a return to the status quo ante\u2014possibly with Trump initiating another 90-day pause on his mega-tariffs. If Xi offers enough flattery, however, Trump may agree to a longer-lasting deal\u2014even if neither side can uphold its end of it. The meeting may also prompt another <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/retail-consumer\/tariffs-anxiety-prompts-us-importers-place-spring-orders-early-2025-10-27\/\">round of stocking up<\/a> from U.S. businesses worried about the trade war resuming.<\/p>\n<p>China <a href=\"https:\/\/finance.yahoo.com\/news\/china-substantial-us-soybean-purchases-101725948.html\">might agree<\/a> to go back to buying U.S. soybeans\u2014an industry that has become a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/09\/15\/business\/china-us-soybeans-farming.html\">political risk<\/a> for Trump. But after China arranged alternate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fb.org\/market-intel\/agricultural-trade-china-steps-back-from-u-s-soybeans\">suppliers<\/a> in Brazil and Argentina, I doubt that Beijing will keep that agreement. Chinese soybean purchases from the United States have been falling since 2022, part of a general shift toward South American suppliers for agricultural imports.<\/p>\n<p>But even if it\u2019s just a temporary pause, at least averting a tariff apocalypse saves <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/business\/2025\/10\/22\/christmas-tree-decor-shortage-tariffs\/\">Christmas<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h3>What We\u2019re Following<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Brewing tensions with Takaichi? <\/strong>Trump\u2019s closeness with Japan\u2019s new prime minister, nationalist Sanae Takaichi, could be an ignition point in the U.S.-China relationship. Takaichi seems to have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/live\/c4gzdrd19n5t\">wooed Trump<\/a> both with promises to cooperate on rare earths and trade as well as straightforward sycophancy, offering to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s an impressive feat for a Japanese prime minister, given Trump\u2019s frequent (and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/rachel-maddow-show\/maddowblog\/trump-cars-bowling-balls-japanese-imports-rcna200221\">false<\/a>) accusations of unfair trade practices by Tokyo in the past. But it is also potentially explosive: China is very skeptical of Takaichi, an advocate of Japanese remilitarization and a tough approach to China who follows in the footsteps of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the assassinated Japanese leader who was her political mentor.<\/p>\n<p>Takaichi has so far showed diplomatic tact in avoiding any visit to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.japantimes.co.jp\/news\/2025\/10\/20\/japan\/politics\/sanae-takaichi-skips-yasukuni-visit\/\">controversial Yasukuni shrine<\/a>, but Xi did not send the usual congratulatory note after her election victory, instead leaving the job to Chinese Premier Li Qiang\u2014a deliberate snub.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Military purge updates. <\/strong>After the official announcement that <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/10\/21\/china-ccp-military-purge-leaders-fourth-plenum\/\">nine military leaders were expelled<\/a> last week, the flagship newspaper of the Chinese People\u2019s Liberation Army (PLA)\u2014the <em>PLA Daily<\/em>\u2014is running a <a href=\"https:\/\/sinocism.notion.site\/Firmly-defend-the-political-character-of-the-people-s-army-PLA-Daily-Editorial-29684ece41d780fe8897f8baa1eb7550\">series<\/a> on the need for political loyalty and will in the military. The articles lean on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.81.cn\/szb_223187\/szbxq\/index.html?paperName=jfjb&amp;paperDate=2025-10-27&amp;paperNumber=05&amp;articleid=965705\">reliable cliches<\/a> (such as \u201cthe steel must be tempered,\u201d drawn from one of Xi\u2019s favorite books, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/How-Steel-Was-Tempered-Part\/dp\/1775289036\">Soviet potboiler<\/a>), but they also reinforce Xi\u2019s political supremacy.<\/p>\n<p>The <em>PLA Daily <\/em>articles are another blow to a persistent claim in the diaspora rumor mill: that Xi was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/asia\/xi-shows-firm-grip-as-party-plenum-ends-with-minimal-reshuffle\">losing power<\/a> to PLA Gen. Zhang Youxia and that the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s recently concluded Fourth Plenum would see a dramatic leadership announcement. Instead, the plenum concluded undramatically, and Xi looks as in command of the party as ever.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h3>FP\u2019s Most Read This Week<\/h3>\n<hr\/>\n<h3>Tech and Business<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Mosquito control draws pushback.<\/strong> The chikungunya virus, an unpleasant but rarely fatal mosquito-borne disease, is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/10\/17\/nyregion\/chikungunya-long-island-case.html\">spreading worldwide<\/a>\u2014but the fight to control it in China has become a public relations disaster. A serious outbreak began in the southern province of Guangdong in July, leading local authorities to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/08\/05\/world\/asia\/china-chikungunya-virus-mosquitoes-covid.html\">mobilize<\/a> public health workers to track the disease, eliminate the stagnant pools of water where mosquitos breed, and make the use of mosquito repellent compulsory.<\/p>\n<p>However, there has been <a href=\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2025\/10\/translations-on-chikungunya-and-mosquito-eradication-in-guangdong-hand-over-your-keys-or-well-pick-the-locks\/\">serious pushback<\/a> to the program thanks to overreach. City authorities in <a href=\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/chinese\/722000.html\">Pengyuan<\/a> demanded that locals hand over the keys to their homes so that officials could enter to check for sitting water. In Zhanjiang, officials <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/world\/china-chikungunya-outbreak-childrens-right-10178171\/\">broke into a home<\/a> into the middle of the night and took blood from sleeping children for tests.<\/p>\n<p>These measures have caused flashbacks to the zero-COVID policy, when a rigid testing and surveillance program dominated life in China for three years. But public complaints caused the Pengyuan <a href=\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/chinese\/722063.html\">authorities<\/a> to back off, issuing a list of 22 \u201cdon\u2019ts\u201d for public health workers\u2014such as killing pets, breaking into property, and using powerful pesticides near residences.<\/p>\n<p>Though the government has tried to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/global-development\/2024\/may\/01\/chinas-authorities-erase-memory-white-paper-protests-in-tightening-of-censorship-press-freedom\">paper over the protests<\/a> that helped end zero-COVID, Chinese officials clearly haven\u2019t forgotten them.<\/p>\n<p><strong>AI safety race. <\/strong>Though the United States is generally <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/09\/23\/china-us-ai-competition-energy-biotechnology\/\">considered to be ahead<\/a> of China in the artificial intelligence (AI) race, Beijing may have the advantage in one area generally overlooked by Silicon Valley: safety. China has a much tighter online regulatory regime than the United States; it is happy to have AI anchors give <a href=\"https:\/\/chinamediaproject.org\/2025\/10\/20\/agent-012339-reports-for-duty\/\">national security warnings<\/a> on social media but has concerns about putting too much power in the hands of everyday users.<\/p>\n<p>Though much of these safety efforts are directed toward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2025\/may\/24\/alarming-rise-in-regional-internet-censorship-in-china-study-finds\">censorship<\/a> and opinion control, they are also aimed at more ordinary, sometimes laudable purposes\u2014such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dlapiperdataprotection.com\/index.html?c=CN\">data protection<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chinalawtranslate.com\/en\/overview-of-protections-for-minors-online\/\">regulating minors<\/a>\u2019 internet access. As a result, China has <a href=\"https:\/\/carnegieendowment.org\/research\/2023\/07\/chinas-ai-regulations-and-how-they-get-made?lang=en\">led the world<\/a> on AI regulation.<\/p>\n<p>As stories break about <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/chatgpt-psychosis-and-self-harm-update\/\">AI-driven psychosis<\/a><\/u> and chatbots\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/10\/24\/magazine\/character-ai-chatbot-lawsuit-teen-suicide-free-speech.html\">encouragement<\/a> of teen suicide, Chinese large language models seem to be ahead of the game, refusing to <a href=\"https:\/\/chinamediaproject.org\/2025\/09\/11\/how-ai-deals-with-dark-thoughts\/\">follow dangerous cues<\/a> that the biggest Western models encourage.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/10\/28\/trump-xi-china-meeting-trade-tariffs-south-korea\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome to\u00a0Foreign Policy\u2019s China Brief. The highlights this week:\u00a0U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agree to a \u201cframework\u201d ahead of a meeting on Thursday, Trump\u2019s relationship with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi could stir tensions with Beijing, and government efforts to control a mosquito-borne disease draw backlash. Welcome to\u00a0Foreign Policy\u2019s China Brief. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2821","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politcical-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}