Trump-Xi summit’s cautious progress and subtle win-wins
President Donald Trump concluded a two-day summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in May 2026, with both leaders expressing cautious optimism about bilateral relations despite no major breakthroughs. On Taiwan, Xi reiterated China's firm stance but stopped short of pushing for immediate reunification, while the U.S. maintained its long-standing policy of supporting Taiwan's self-defense without endorsing independence. Trade discussions focused on stabilizing economic ties, with both sides managing expectations amid ongoing strategic competition.
- ▪Xi Jinping emphasized that the Taiwan issue is the most important in China-U.S. relations and warned of potential conflicts if mishandled.
- ▪The U.S. continues to sell defensive weapons to Taiwan, maintaining its policy since the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act.
- ▪China aims to modernize its military by 2027 and become a 'world-class military' by 2049, though it currently lacks the naval capacity for a successful invasion of Taiwan.
- ▪Both countries seek to stabilize economic relations, with China wanting to regain access to U.S. markets and the U.S. concerned about supply chain control and trade imbalances.
- ▪The U.S. 2025 National Security Strategy opposes unilateral changes to the status quo on Taiwan by either side.
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President Donald Trump departed China on May 15, 2026, after a two-day summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping that was scrutinized from every angle for clues on where the relationship is heading. Trump hailed the trip as “incredible,” while Xi remarked that it marked a “new bilateral relationship.” Other observers were a little less enthusiastic, noting that no major breakthroughs were evident at the highly anticipated meeting of the world’s two most powerful political leaders. Yan Bennett, an expert in US-China relations and author of “American Policy Discourses on China,”, provides here her three big takeaways from the summit.
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