U.S. President Donald Trump was supposed to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in April in what was to be a closely watched engagement between the world’s two largest economies. Instead, the Israeli and American campaign in Iran forced a postponement, injecting fresh uncertainty into an already unpredictable relationship between the two superpowers.
Now rescheduled for mid-May, the meeting will take place under dramatically changed circumstances, fundamentally reshaped by the White House’s Iran gambit and its ripple effects across global markets, security dynamics and alliances.
Pundits will be debating whether Trump will travel to Beijing in a stronger or weaker position. Some will argue that Trump has created an advantage in his dealings with Xi by disrupting Iranian oil supplies to China, demonstrating a willingness to follow through on his threat to use U.S. military force and behaving undeterred by domestic political pressures. Others will claim that he has fractured his base, depleted military resources and disrupted security priorities, all while undermining America’s relationship with its allies.
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