As President Trump travels to China today, his original plans for the visit have been upended. He wanted to arrive as a triumphant conqueror but increasingly resembles a supplicant. Will he strike a ‘Two T’s’ deal – a grand bargain that trades Taipei for Tehran?

Trump has periodically voiced his irritation with China, but at bottom he respects – and even admires – President Xi Jinping as the kind of tough guy that he can do business with on a variety of fronts. The most important one has become Iran, which is threatening to increase its nuclear enrichment programme and successfully defying Trump’s threats to blow it into oblivion.

China is Iran’s biggest backer. It previously pushed Tehran into ceasefire talks with Washington. Now Trump is dismissing Iran’s response to his latest peace proposal as ‘garbage’. He also stated that the ceasefire itself is on life........

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