Welcome back to What’s Happening in China, your weekly China brief.
While some praised the summit as a successful exercise in stability maintenance and relationship building, others saw a weakened and passive United States. A surprisingly docile Trump, accompanied by an entourage of government officials and business leaders, was in Beijing this week for a visit that delivered few concrete outcomes but plenty of pomp and pageantry.
In the first U.S. presidential visit to China in nearly a decade, Trump was welcomed at Beijing Capital Airport by Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, flanked by two rows of children waving flags in carefully choreographed enthusiasm. The two-day visit included a lavish state banquet at the Great Hall of the People and a tour of the Temple of Heaven. Xi Jinping did not give Trump a “big, fat hug,” but he did show him centuries-old trees during a garden stroll at the ultra-private Zhongnanhai and agreed to send Trump rose seeds as a gift.
The talks touched on Iran…
