Donald Trump is the first US leader to visit Beijing in nearly a decade. Amid the pomp, circumstance and high-level meetings, Angela Diffley welcomes Shanhui ZHANG, Journalist at CGTN (China Global Television Network) and Fellow at the Center for China and Globalisation. From the outset, Zhang frames the relationship in almost symbolic and ritual terms, suggesting that “when the two top leaders are talking together, that’s how we can decide the future of the China and the U.S. relations.” The discussion unfolds around two distinct leadership dynamics and how they intersect with contested geopolitical issues such as Taiwan, Ukraine and the Middle East. Beijing sees itself as a world-class mediator and “responsible power that looks like what a power should be in the 21st century.”
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