Washington and Beijing offered conciliatory words ahead of a highly anticipated meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week that could defuse months of tensions between the superpowers.
The relatively warm language ahead of Thursday’s talks, likely to overshadow a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders, stood in sharp contrast to heated rhetoric from Washington and Beijing in recent months that at one point saw the two countries impose retaliatory tariffs of more than 100%. Recent talks between their respective trade officials have led to a framework deal, but a potential truce “is unlikely to be groundbreaking” because the superpowers share deep disagreements on key issues including trade, defense, and AI, a Shanghai-based expert said.