Xi Just Sent Trump a Message: America’s Unipolar Era Is Ending | Silk and Steel

Carl Zha (0:01)

Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Silk and Steel Podcast. I'm your host, Carl Zha. Today, I welcome back Dr. Warwick Powell from Australia.

Dr. Powell is an expert in geopolitics, especially relationship to China. And recently, we just had the President Xi Jinping visiting Washington. It's all over the news, and I'd like to have you share your takes on the current Xi Trump Summit, if you will.

Warwick Powell (0:36)

Yeah, sure. Good to be with you again. And yeah, if you say, look, this event's taken place. It obviously has received quite a lot of coverage. A lot of the visuals, the pageantry, the atmospherics, I guess, has received a lot of attention from President Trump and the First Lady actually going to Andrews Air Force Base, welcoming President Xi and Lady Peng on the tarmac. That's something that hasn't happened before for a Chinese leader.

You know, all the way through to imagery of carpets being cleaned, et cetera, et cetera.

I think what that also tells us is that for many observers, they were looking for something big to come out of this summit. And they probably feel a little bit let down that there was no grand announcements, there was no new grand bargain or what have you. What we had instead was, I think, a series of quite important but understated initiatives that speak to a particular approach that China has taken to its relationship to the United States over the last few years. So we've had an announcement on some Pandas being lent now to the United States. Now, at one level, of course, you think, well, what's that got to do with anything? But arguably, when China lends Pandas to another country, it is the most significant symbolic act.

The Panda is a national treasure. And to hand over Pandas into the care of another is a very important symbol of an extension of trust and goodwill. So I don't think we should underestimate Panda diplomacy per se. I think it says something quite important about where China wants the United States to understand China's perspective on this relationship. Yes, there are tensions. Yes, there's a lot of issues in flux, but at the same time, there is a calmness to this, and the relationship isn't viewed from Beijing as one of irreconcilable tensions and conflict. So that's the first one. The second one was the extension temporarily of the trade fruits for another couple of months. But that comes with a broader package, I guess, of institutionalization of trade, investment and AI related dialogue. Again, there are no quick fixes to these problems, but they do need mechanisms by which issues can be put on the table and addressed without them festering for too long. We know that when issues are allowed to fester, they can get a life of their own, either because of domestic political forces, or because people stew on issues and don't ventilate them and progress them, which leads to misunderstandings, misjudgements, etc.

Even though there's no solution per se on trade or investment or AI governance, in fact, there's big gaps between the two countries on their views, it's important that the channels of communications are actually now getting institutionalized. The third thing that I thought was actually quite important is President Xi's invitation slash announcement of another 100,000 young Americans to visit China. You'll recall that in 2023, President Xi invited or announced an invitation for 50,000 young Americans to visit China by 2028

50,000 was achieved about three or four months ago, two years ahead of schedule, which tells us something about the willingness of young Americans to connect, to explore and to find their own way in terms of China and the relationship that America and Americans have towards China. And this comes on the back of recent public opinion survey in the United States, which shows, I think, two things that are of interest for us right now. One is that there is a broad warming of relationships towards China and the need for America and China to collaborate. It's not an overwhelming tsunami of public goodwill, but there is a warming. The trajectory seems quite clear for the time being, that there really isn't a deep appetite for intense friction and conflict. And interestingly, that warming is most pronounced amongst younger Americans. So there is a generational demographic question as well about attitudes towards China. And I think this announcement by President Xi of the 100,000 will contribute and help consolidate that warming of perspective from younger Americans. Now, why does all of this matter? There's no agreement on trade, there's no agreement on investment, there's no agreement on AI, the big issues, let alone Taiwan and all of that. There's none of that. There's no grand bargain. It matters because what China is seeking to do is manage a very difficult relationship, recognizing that the United States itself is going through a dramatic period of change, both domestically with numerous domestic pressures, which you and I have discussed in the past, together with a transformation in the United States standing and status in the world.