If the Beijing meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in May was the “stalemate summit”, the second round of talks between the presidents of the US and China this week seemed to give up entirely on the idea of breakthroughs. Instead, it was described as a celebration of “diplotainment” rather than diplomacy, where pomp prevailed over progress and where one of the main outcomes was the news that two giant pandas would soon be sent from China to Atlanta zoo. Trump rolled out the red carpet for Xi’s arrival…
Tag: China
Trump picked a fight with the media… and lost | Politics Weekly America
The US press corps stood up to Donald Trump this week after he banned three organisations he doesn’t like from the White House. But when it came to the leader of one of the US’s oldest adversaries – China – well, Trump literally rolled out a very long red carpet. Jonathan Freedland speaks to the Guardian’s Shrai Popat about why Trump seems weaker these days, but why it could be dangerous to underestimate him The Guardian
Diplomacy or ‘diplotainment’? Key takeaways from the Trump-Xi summit in Washington
1. Diplomacy or ‘diplotainment’? Senate Democrats criticised Trump’s summit with Xi, saying it prioritised pageantry over substance on the major issues. There was no sign a brief closed-door meeting yielded breakthroughs on the thorny issues of AI, trade, Taiwan and the war with Iran. Both countries agreed to extend until 10 January an agreement pausing their trade war, but experts said there were few other obvious tangible outcomes. Xi once again invoked the “Thucydides Trap”, an academic theory that competition between a rising power and an established one often results…
Trump swoons over strongman soulmate Xi – are you feeling jealous, Vladimir?
One is an authoritarian who represses the media with a strong allergy to democratic elections. The other is head of the Chinese Communist party. Donald Trump welcomed the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, to the White House on Thursday, setting the stage for a scene quite unlike anything the august old building has seen over more than two centuries. “Remarkably,” observed the US president, “this is our first time meeting together here at the White House, and as President Xi has already seen, a lot has changed since he was last…
France says EU’s ‘Made in Europe’ law should not include the UK
France is leading a push to exclude the UK from the EU’s “Made in Europe” policy that could result in British companies losing out in the race to supply European countries with low-carbon technologies and electric cars. The plans were raised by Andy Burnham when he met the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, on the sidelines of the UN general assembly earlier this week. The policy, still under negotiation, aims to protect European companies from intense and “unfair” state-subsidised competition from China. But the government fears British companies…
At Trump meeting, Xi Jingping lays out terms to avoid US-China military conflict
Xi Jingping has called for extensive cooperation with Washington to avoid the “Thucydides trap” that could put the US and China on a military collision course. At the start of his summit meeting with Donald Trump in the White House, the Chinese president laid out terms for a mutual understanding that he said could avoid military conflict between the two competing superpowers. “We should strengthen communication. China and the United States are different in national conditions, but through candid, in-depth and continued dialog, our two countries can understand each other…
Full moons, mooncakes and lanterns in every colour: the mid-autumn festival – in pictures
The mid-autumn festival, also known as the moon festival, is a celebration of harvest and family in Chinese culture – a time to gather with relatives and friends under a full moon. During the festival, people eat mooncakes – a rich round pastry that symbolises wholeness – and display lanterns: beacons that light the path towards prosperity and good luck. It is held on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese calendar, when the moon is believed to be at its fullest and brightest, coinciding with the…
Trump-Xi live updates: leaders of US and China to talk AI and trade in major Washington meeting
From 28m ago Trump and Xi to talk AI and trade in major Washington meeting Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping have plenty to cover when they sit down for talks Thursday at the White House. The US and Chinese leaders are tackling issues like trade irritants, artificial intelligence safeguards and the war in Iran. Trump wants China to use its influence with Iran, while Xi seeks a halt to US arms sales to Taiwan. A fragile trade truce had been set to expire in November, but the two countries…
The U.S. and China Are Far Apart on A.I. Safety
If there is one person who represents the frontier of Chinese artificial intelligence, it is Tang Jie. The soft-spoken data engineer is the co-founder, chief scientist and largest individual shareholder of China’s leading artificial intelligence lab, Z.ai, whose models have risen to the top tier of China’s performance tables and made Mr. Tang the flag-bearer for the Chinese A.I. ecosystem. In some ways, Mr. Tang’s messaging about A.I. seems to mirror that of Dario Amodei, the co-founder and chief executive of Anthropic — the American company behind Claude — and…
Alarm bells sound in Brussels as EU sales of Chinese hybrid cars rocket
Sales of Chinese hybrid cars have rocketed in the EU in the past four and a half years, new data shows, underlining growing concerns in Brussels over the future of the European car industry. In 2022, just 659 Chinese-made fully hybrid cars (vehicles in which the petrol or diesel engine charge the motor and battery) were sold in the EU. However, after Brussels imposed anti-subsidy tariffs on fully electric cars from China in 2024, sales of hybrids have shot up to 160,662 in the first seven months of this year.…