May 19, 2026 19:14 pm IST

Opinion | Xi Is Truly Done Falling For The Great American Bluff

The Chinese and others have long sized up Trump. And they're no longer buying his threats - or his promises.

Kanwal Sibal Kanwal Sibal Columnist

Kanwal Sibal Columnist

Trump's visit to China has been less successful than what he might have hoped for. This is surprising, but not altogether so.Surprising because the visit was long in preparation, and there was ample time, therefore, for the two sides to agree in advance on some concrete outcomes to project success. This is normal in diplomacy.

Trump has been giving a boost to his planned visit by talking about his admiration for Xi Jinping as a leader, his close personal relationship with him, and how the two could together help solve the problems of the globe.

That Trump took along with him America's most powerful corporate heads suggested that he expected some important business-level understandings to emerge on issues of investment, trade and technology. There would normally be little sense in organising such a high-powered accompanying business delegation without expectation of some deliverables. China, too, could have been expected to use the opportunity of Trump's visit to reset ties that were sliding into a progressively confrontational phase.

If the visit has produced much less than might have been expected, it is not surprising. The Chinese and others have long sized up Trump. As a person, he does not inspire trust and confidence. His transactional approach means that he pursues short-term goals. His erratic behaviour, inconsistency, ego-driven approach, use of brutal pressure tactics, and so on, make him an unreliable interlocutor.

In his first term, Trump targeted China on the trade front, accusing it of unfair trade practices and subsidies, intellectual property theft, forced technology transfer, currency manipulation, and used tariffs as a weapon to reduce the massive bilateral trade deficit, and bring manufacturing jobs back home. China imposed retaliatory tariffs in return.

In his second term, Trump imposed "emergency" tariffs and has targeted China's steel, aluminium, and other manufactures. He tied several of his trade and other restrictions to the flow of Fentanyl precursors from China to the US. He has also targeted China's maritime and logistics dominance. China's access to US technology and natural resources was restricted, and its ties with academia and research were sought to be blocked because of a suspected PLA connection.

Tit For Tat Sanctions

In the lead-up to Trump's visit, the US and China have engaged in tit-for-tat sanctions triggered by US restrictions on companies facilitating Iranian oil shipments to Chinese "teapot" refineries, and China enforcing its anti-foreign sanctions laws to block US actions. The US has targeted Chinese firms and suppliers in the defence and aerospace........

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