Ep208: Did China trump Trump? — After the Beijing summit
21 May 2026

Ep208: Did China trump Trump? — After the Beijing summit

China In Context: Weekly podcast with experts from SOAS

About
Donald Trump's visit to Beijing, the first by a US president in nine years, not only included plenty of pageantry, but produced some apparently substantive agreements. Aside from China resuming purchases of Boeing planes, beef and soybeans from the US, the two countries agreed to set up boards of trade and investment, and pledged to establish a 'constructive relationship of strategic stability'. And Xi Jinping will visit the US in September. But will this really ease recent trade and political tensions? Melinda Liu, veteran Beijing bureau chief of Newsweek magazine, and Professor Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute and co-author of 'The Political Thought of Xi Jinping', discuss who got the most out of a summit described by President Trump as 'very successful' and by President Xi as ‘historic’.

Photo credit: Daniel Torok / White House
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The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are those of the speakers and are not necessarily those of the SOAS China Institute.
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Music credit: Sappheiros / CC BY 3.0