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Xi Jinping: Chess Master of an Indo Pacific Board Game

There are blinding flashes of cameras as Chinese President Xi Jinping shakes hands with President Donald Trump. It is Oct. 30, 2025, and the two of them are at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Summit in Gyeongju, the former “City of Gold” in South Korea.  What did the world take away from this? A sense of stability? A step towards business as usual for China-US relations?

Not so fast, though. Not all of us were fooled by this masterful trap. In fact, Xi Jinping played yet one more strategic move towards his end game. Washington, D.C., breathed a sigh of relief at the apparent de-escalation in tensions between the two men while Beijing deftly executed its shrewd move.

What if Xi’s rare decision to visit South Korea was not only motivated by business reasons and diplomatic advantages? What if his goal was to exploit a moment of seeming U.S. disinterest in South Korea to isolate it and move it irreversibly into being a pawn in China’s orbit? Did it turn out to be a timely, successful move across the Indo-Pacific board game?

A “Golden Window”

Xi Jinping rarely travels abroad and, when he does, he is looking for a strategic payoff. His presence in Gyeongju signaled to us that Beijing views 2025 as a critical “golden window” to break the U.S.-South Korea Alliance. South Korea is currently paralyzed by internal political conflicts and faces a leadership crisis. Xi knows this. By engaging directly with the U.S. President on Korean soil, Xi created the optical illusion that the Korean Peninsula is a matter to be settled between superpowers, with Seoul a mere........

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