Given the political culture of the contemporary Chinese state, it is not at all surprising what its Foreign Minister Wang Yi today says of his President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald J Trump. After the two leaders met at Gimhae International Airport, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, in Busan, the other day, Minister Wang reportedly described them as “world-class leaders.” Minister Wang has to say what his boss Xi wants him to and he must do what, in due course, might help China “lay a solid foundation” for its relations with the United States—a dream the successive governments in Beijing have shared since Mao Tse Tung met then American President Richard M Nixon in 1972.

One, however, finds China has gained little from the agreement Presidents Xi and Trump had in Busan. Observers say that after meeting Chinese supremo Xi in Busan, US President Trump has described him as the “great leader of a great........

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