Welcome to Foreign Policy’s China Brief.

Last week’s summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump saw a lot of pomp and circumstance but little movement. For more on the outcomes—and why the meeting was so banal—read my full post-summit analysis.

Welcome to Foreign Policy’s China Brief.

Last week’s summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump saw a lot of pomp and circumstance but little movement. For more on the outcomes—and why the meeting was so banal—read my full post-summit analysis.

Now, for the highlights this week: China escalates its campaign against elite education, Trump’s remarks on Taiwan generate backlash, and the United States and China mull cooperation on AI issues.

China’s Elite Education Crackdown

Chinese schools and universities are eliminating so-called key classes—elite programs for gifted students—after an official ban and a push for randomized streaming, in which students are assigned to classes through a lottery rather than test scores. Among the programs affected is a flagship mathematics program introduced in 2021 at the university level, and later into high schools, by renowned mathematician Shing-Tung Yau.

The changes are part of China’s “sunshine” program, which attempts to bring fairness and transparency to enrollment and targets supposed irregular recruitment to the top schools. Though previous efforts to curb such practices failed, this time, enforcement has been strict.

There are good reasons for the government’s intervention. Unlike in most countries, where the wealthy send their children to elite private institutions, the most well-connected Chinese high schoolers attend elite state-run schools. These occupy a place in Chinese society similar to the “Group of Seven”........

© Foreign Policy