Can Xi and Trump use their leverage to actually make progress?

Xi Jinping and Donald Trump are set to meet in Washington this week with powerful bargaining chips on the table and a shared test: whether the United States and China can move towards “constructive strategic stability”.

Stability at the centre of talks

Analysts agree that keeping ties stable will be a priority when the presidents of the United States and China meet in Washington.

The meeting will be watched globally because it could show whether the two countries can make good on their agreement to work towards “constructive strategic stability”.

Fan Chen and Orange Wang, in the fifth part of a series, examine the negotiating chips and the areas where progress might be made.

Leverage on both sides

Both sides have economic and geopolitical leverage as Xi and Trump prepare to meet.

According to one analyst, the negotiations will be as much about what each side has chosen not to do to avoid retaliation as about the measures they might actively pursue.

That makes restraint itself a part of the bargaining process, as the source frames the talks around choices made to avoid retaliation.

Areas where progress may be possible

Analysts and others pointed to critical areas where the two powers remain locked in fierce competition but could instead be working together.

Those areas include artificial intelligence, military dialogue, trade and biosafety.

Artificial intelligence is identified as one possible area for cooperation, even as the broader relationship remains defined by economic and geopolitical leverage.

The central question around the Washington meeting is whether Xi and Trump can use that leverage to keep ties stable and make progress in areas where competition has so far dominated.

Source: South China Morning Post