On November 8, 2017, China transformed the Forbidden City, the heart of Beijing, into a private venue reserved solely for U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping and their wives. The emperor's palace was mobilized as a stage for Chinese diplomacy. For the U.S.-China summit opening on the 14th of this month, Tiantan, the Temple of Heaven where emperors offered rituals to the sky, will serve as the protocol stage. Completed in 1420 during the reign of Emperor Yongle of the Ming dynasty, Tiantan was where Ming and Qing emperors prayed for bountiful harvests and the well-being of the nation. After the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 and the establishment of the Republic of China, Tiantan was converted into a public park in 1918 and survived the founding of the People's Republic of China and the frenzy of the Cultural Revolution largely unscathed.
Tiantan is divided into three parts: the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests (Qinian Hall), the Circular Mound Altar, and the Imperial Vault of Heaven. The Qigu Altar within the Hall of Prayer, which Trump and Xi will ascend together, is where rituals were held in the first lunar month to pray for a good harvest. Greater China media outlets speculate that the two leaders will converse at the Echo Wall, also known as the "Whispering Wall," and watch a kung fu demonstration by a humanoid robot. The space where emperors once communed with heaven is being repurposed as the stage where the U.S. and Chinese leaders will commune with each other.
China's summit protocol has always been self-centered. At last year's Victory Day military parade, Xi stood at the center of the Tiananmen rostrum, flanked by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. It was a scene that flaunted China as the central axis of the anti-U.S., anti-Western camp. Yet the protocol prepared for Trump this time carries a different tone. The choice of Tiantan—where Chinese emperors communicated with heaven—as the stage suggests an intent to highlight the U.S. and China as the two pillars of the international order.
From economic issues such as fentanyl-related tariffs, rare earth controls, the extension of the trade truce, and artificial intelligence (AI), to security matters including Taiwan and Iran, not a single item on this summit's agenda is trivial. That is why the world's attention is focused on Beijing. With both the U.S. and China acknowledging the need to "manage conflict," there is a possibility of reaching an agreement that secures practical gains for both sides. But that does not mean the competition will stop. The new power struggle over balance and containment will continue.
