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International Order On The Line For Trump-Xi Meeting

This combination of file photos show U.S. President Donald Trump, right, in a meeting at the White House in Washington, on March 31, 2017,  and China's President Xi Jinping  in a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, on Dec. 1, 2016. (AP)
This combination of file photos show U.S. President Donald Trump, right, in a meeting at the White House in Washington, on March 31, 2017, and China's President Xi Jinping in a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, on Dec. 1, 2016. (AP)

President Trump has predicted a “very difficult” meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. We’ll unpack what’s on the table and at stake for both countries.

It is a week of foreign policy meetings, foreign leaders, for Donald Trump. Egypt. Jordan. But tomorrow is the big one: China. Chinese President Xi Jinping flies in for his first meeting with President Trump, at Trump’s resort, Mar-a-Lago, in Florida. The agenda is as bedrock as it gets. Trade – who makes money and how. Nukes – and North Korea’s arsenal. Power – and who holds it, between the US and China. This hour On Point, the US, China, two tough guy leaders, and the meeting in Florida. — Tom Ashbrook

Guests

Margaret Brennan, White House and senior foreign affairs correspondent for CBS News. (@margbrennan)

Susan Shirk, chair of the 21st Century China Center at the University of California, San Diego. Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for U.S. policy toward China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Mongolia. (@susanshirk1)

Scott Kennedy, director of the Project on Chinese Business and Political Economy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, where he also the deputy director of the Freeman Chair in China Studies. (@KennedyCSIS)

From Tom’s Reading List

The Wall Street Journal: The U.S. and China, Sniping in Public, Have Tried in Private to Lower the Volume — “The summit now offers a test of that strategy and a chance for the two leaders, if they choose to take it, to recalibrate relations and reduce the risk of flare-ups over trade, North Korea or the South China Sea. With both men deeply invested in projecting strength and the promise of national rejuvenation, a disappointing summit could plunge ties back into turmoil.”

New York Times: China Learns How to Get Trump’s Ear: Through Jared Kushner — “Mr. Trump wants something in return: He plans to press Mr. Xi to intensify economic sanctions against North Korea to pressure the country to shut down its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. He has also vowed to protest the chronic trade imbalance between the United States and China, which he railed against during his presidential campaign.”

UCSD: US Policy Toward China: Recommendations For a New Administration — “The challenge of formulating an effective US policy today is different from the time when China was still a low-income country just emerging onto the world scene. Now it is a regional and increasingly global power with significant new economic, diplomatic, and military aspirations and capabilities. The quest for effective policy levers is further complicated by the deeply intertwined nature of the US and Chinese economies in which neither country stands to gain from economic difficulties in the other.”

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.