How Will the New Congress Handle China?

Trump’s days of running US-China relations on personal ties are numbered

Amid attempts this year to impress each other with splendour, US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping appear to have decided that the relationship between their two countries should primarily run through their personal relationship. This has been a hallmark of the Trump years. The American executive branch has always held near-unilateral authority over foreign policy, but Trump has concentrated that in himself. Dozens of ambas…

Beijing Uses Stability to Constrain U.S. Policy

Executive Summary: During General Secretary Xi Jinping’s state visit to the United States in September 2026, he and U.S. president Donald Trump reinforced a framework of “constructive strategic stability” (The White House; Ministry of Foreign Affairs [MFA], September 25). Beijing wants to define the terms of this stability to constrain U.S. policy by extracting a […]

China-US relations: Trump and Xi’s diplomacy masks a fragile rivalry

The frequent meetings between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2026 may suggest that Washington and Beijing are entering a more stable phase of their relationship. Yet beneath the diplomatic ceremonies, flattering remarks and promises of cooperation, the rivalry between the world’s two largest economies remains deeply entrenched. Their engagement has […]

How will the New Congress Handle China?

How will the New Congress Handle China? lberry Tue, 10/27/2026 - 12:28 On the surface, US-China relations might appear to be on an upswing ahead of the US midterm elections. US President Donald Trump choreographed the appearance of positive momentum and personal rapport with Chinese President Xi Jinping when Xi visited Washington in September, with the two leaders explicitly endorsing the pursuit of “constructive strategic stability” in the bila…