The Koreas | Diplomacy | East Asia

Trump-Xi Summit Leaves South Korea Navigating Familiar Pressures

For Seoul, what the leaders of the great superpowers left unsaid in Beijing may matter more than what they agreed on.

U.S. President Donald Trump participates in a welcome ceremony with President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, May 14, 2026.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping held a bilateral summit at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 14. It was Trump’s first visit to China since 2017. It was also the first time since 2001 that a U.S. president has visited China and not stopped in the capital of at least one U.S. ally in the region, whether Japan, South Korea, or Australia.

The two sides agreed on the importance of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open, and Beijing reaffirmed its hawkish stance on Taiwan. By comparison, neither Trump nor Xi made any public mention of North Korea, implying that Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons are no longer a pressing agenda item for Washington and Beijing.

The United States cast the first day of talks positively, citing progress on economic cooperation and energy. According to the White House, Xi “expressed interest in purchasing more American oil to reduce China’s dependence on the Strait [of Hormuz]” and both sides agreed to work toward deeper commercial engagement. 

Touting Xi as a “great leader,” Trump called the meeting “the biggest summit ever” and said the relationship between China and the United States is “going to be better than ever before.” 

Xi offered a more cautionary tone and brought up one of the most famous international relations theories – the Thucydides Trap, which posits that a rising power and a declining power are likely to go to war. “Can we meet global challenges together and provide greater stability for the world?” Xi asked Trump. 

However, despite his gestures toward Trump to cooperate in various fields, Xi clearly showed the red line that Trump cannot cross during the meeting. 

“Safeguarding peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is the biggest common denominator between China and the U.S.,” Xi was quoted as saying in the readout posted by the Chinese Foreign Ministry. If the issue of Taiwan is handled improperly, “the two countries will have clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy,” according to Xi. 

Trump did not publicly respond to questions on Taiwan after the summit, and the White House made no mention of the subject in its statements. 

According to Chinese state media, the two leaders also discussed the Middle East, Ukraine, and the Korean Peninsula, though no details of those discussions were reported.

For South Korea, the summit between Trump and Xi changed little but it clarified the pressures Seoul now faces. 

On Taiwan,........

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