China hawks grumble over Trump’s lavish welcome planned for Xi st

Hours before President Xi Jinping’s aircraft is due to land at Joint Base Andrews, Washington is preparing for President Donald Trump to wait on the tarmac for the Chinese leader, a scene the source describes as unthinkable in recent years.

The planned welcome comes ahead of Xi’s state visit and has drawn a chorus of disapproval from China hawks, even as others argue that the welcome itself is the show, not the deal.

Ceremony tests Washington’s China debate

The unease centres on the symbolism of an American president personally receiving the leader of a country that much of the US national security establishment views as its foremost strategic adversary.

The Trump administration is betting on warmth, deals and stability with Beijing as it prepares for Xi’s arrival.

That approach is unfolding as recent public surveys show American anxiety over China has eased from its 2024 peak.

Hawks warn rivalry has not disappeared

China hawks who helped shape the debate have spent the week warning that the ceremony could obscure what they see as a more familiar reality.

Their argument is that Beijing remains a rival and that the issues defining that rivalry have not gone away.

They are making that case from outside the room, according to the source.

Since Trump returned to the White House, that chorus has lost resonance inside the building and with the public.

Trump has disputed their arguments himself while calling Xi a “great gentleman”.

The split shows how the administration’s emphasis on warmth, deals and stability is clashing with a camp that still wants the rivalry with Beijing kept at the centre of the public message.

Source: South China Morning Post