We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering US-China relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.
1. Trump leaves China after much pomp and pageantry, but little to show for it
As US President Donald Trump landed back in Washington after his two-day summit in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping, a quick US assessment on one of the most consequential diplomatic visits of Trump’s presidency was: impressive optics, trademark flawless Chinese hosting, but disappointing concrete achievements, according to analysts, industry trade groups and former US officials.
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2. Taiwan casts long shadow over Trump’s summit with Xi
In the aftermath of the Trump-Xi summit, subtle differences emerged in how the two sides characterised Taiwan, which Beijing defines as the most important issue in the bilateral relationship and which has emerged as the first test of Beijing and Washington’s new “strategic stability” formula, according to analysts.
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3. China’s Wang Yi tells UN multilateralism must be protected in swipe at US
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi took a swipe at the United States at a press conference at the United Nations in May as he touted the need to safeguard multilateralism and the UN Charter in times of great instability.
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4. ‘We want teeth in it’: US farmers wary of Xi-Trump pledge without signed deal
Across the vast United States, soybean farmers caught in the crossfire of the US-China trade war hoped for a deal on the crop when US President Donald Trump met with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. However, Trump left Beijing without any concrete agricultural announcements, much less one about US farmers’ biggest export.
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5. US weighs offensive space tactics as China satellite rivalry intensifies
The US is preparing offensive weapons to blind China’s military satellites in any future conflict, even as the two sides lack reliable channels to manage risks in an increasingly crowded orbit, defence analysts said in May.
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6. Trump scraps signing AI executive order to keep ‘lead’ over China in industry
US President Donald Trump said in late May that he had postponed the signing of a planned executive order on regulating artificial intelligence, out of concern that it might undermine America’s leading position over China in the field.
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7. Chinese national charged in alleged scheme to smuggle drug shipments to US
In a sign of growing cooperation between the US and China in the wake of the Trump-Xi summit, the US Justice Department announced the arrest in China of an alleged drug smuggler wanted by the US in connection with a sizeable shipment of illegal drugs into the US state of Georgia.
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