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Trump has played his cards before China visit. Xi holds diplomatic power

Donald Trump arrives in Beijing to meet Xi Jinping in an extraordinarily weak negotiating position for a president who has made strength his trademark.

Few presidential visits to China have been as laden with expectations and uncertainty as the one Donald Trump is undertaking in Beijing on 14 and 15 May. Trump and Xi Jinping last met in October 2025 in Busan, South Korea, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit. That meeting, which both sides presented as a success, only brought time for each of them. 

For Trump, it was about trying to build an autonomous production chain for rare earth elements and other critical minerals, sectors now almost entirely controlled by China. If that chain were to be disrupted, it could paralyse entire segments of the American economy, including its military capabilities.

In return, Xi obtained something very concrete: the partial lifting of export controls on high-performance AI processors, which China needs to expand its computing capacity and avoid falling behind in the race for domination in artificial intelligence.

At the time, the two leaders reached not a strategic agreement, but a tactical one that postponed their problems without resolving them. Additionally, the most consequential issue—the future of Taiwan—was put on hold, but with some good news for China: the next APEC summit would be held in Beijing, and soon.

China’s........

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