Assuming Xi Jinping and Joe Biden finally sit down together next week in San Francisco after a year of posturing, accusations, backchannel signalling and wayward surveillance balloons, the results will be underwhelming.
There is so little trust – a week before the expected meeting, the Chinese had still not formally confirmed Xi’s participation at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit – and so many missed opportunities that the “deliverables” will be modest at best even as both sides downplay expectations.
