Domestic and foreign foreign-affairs and security experts on Wednesday played down the likelihood that the US-China summit set to take place in Beijing on Thursday will serve as a "breakthrough" in the complex international landscape. With the war in Iran dragging on longer than expected, they said, the talks are likely to focus on preserving the status quo rather than escalating tensions.
A former senior US official said Wednesday that "the outcome of President Donald Trump's visit to China this time will be maintaining a 'fragile truce.'" The official explained that Trump needs to address more pressing issues such as the Iran war first, and that lessons from the previous US-China trade war are also weighing on the talks. "According to US government officials, Washington currently has fairly low expectations and is prioritizing keeping the truce in place," he added.
The former official also said, "I don't expect tremendous results from this summit, but there will be some tangible outcomes, such as large-scale purchases by China." Chinese purchases of US raw materials and products, including aircraft and soybeans, are seen as likely.
Chung Ku-yeon, a professor of political science and diplomacy at Kangwon National University, said, "For the US to have leverage over China, it should have wrapped up the Iran issue first, but nothing has been resolved." She added, "It will not be easy even to produce a joint statement from the summit."
Against this backdrop, attention is turning to what kind of help Trump will ask China for regarding the Iran situation, or whether Chinese President Xi Jinping will propose a specific role. Another former senior US official said, "Over the past few days, there has been a wide gap between the goals the US has laid out and Iran's position, and the negotiations appear to have made no progress at all." He added, "The key question is how far Trump will go in asking for China's help so that Iran can take a more flexible stance on the nuclear issue."
