BLUF: South Korea Summit
As leaders of the two most powerful nations in the world filed into the room and settled on opposite sides of the table, everyone here in Washington watched with bated breath. President Trump’s second meeting ever with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the annual Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in South Korea was highly anticipated amidst ongoing trade tensions. But, as experts acknowledged, the meeting seems to have done little more than restore the most recent status quo—temporarily pausing export-controls of rare earths, eliminating the threat of extraordinarily large tariffs, and reinforcing existing trade agreements for agricultural products.
Notably absent from the discussion was the highly contentious topic of the independence of Taiwan. While many were worried China would try to use U.S. support for the island nation as a bargaining chip for preferential trade outcomes and the Trump Administration would capitulate, that doesn’t seem to have come to fruition. The day before the meeting, Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio placated any misgivings on this front, stating, “no one is contemplating that.”
Following the meeting, President Trump expressed optimism with a statement released on Truth Social proclaiming the best is yet to come. Meanwhile, Chinese state media outlets unleashed a blitz of propaganda on Taiwanese radio waves and television channels reiterating the benefits of reunification.
All in all, this meeting—while meaningful simply because it occurred—didn’t tackle many of the toughest challenges facing normalizing relations. Looming largest is Taiwan, the Pandora’s box of diplomacy and most consequential flashpoint between the two powers. With tensions showing no signs of easing, expectations for any “big” breakthroughs should remain low unless circumstances force the issue. First steps are important in strained relationships, but if April’s planned meeting looks like a repeat of this one, it will only reinforce the reality that neither side is prepared to confront the hardest questions unless they are compelled to do so. And God willing, that compulsion does not come in the form of a conflict over Taiwan in the years ahead.
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