What Trump and Xi Didn't Settle in Beijing, With Nicholas Burns

About this episode

The episode discusses the outcomes and implications of the U.S.-China summit, focusing on key issues like Taiwan and economic agreements.

This episode unpacks the key discussion points from the U.S.-China summit, including Taiwan, the Iran war, AI regulation, and the future of U.S.-China relations. Host: James M. Lindsay, Mary and David Boies Distinguished Senior Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy, CFR Guest: Nicholas Burns, Roy and Barbara Goodman Family Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Relations, Harvard University Kennedy School of Government; Former U.S. Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China (2021–2025) We Discuss: Whether the Trump-Xi summit in Beijing represented a genuine diplomatic breakthrough or merely a cooling of tensions without resolving underlying conflicts. What the dueling U.S. and Chinese post-summit statements reveal about each country's divergent priorities and negotiating strategies. How significant the summit's economic deliverables—agricultural sales commitments, Boeing aircraft sales, and a potential tariff truce—actually are. How Xi Jinping's early and deliberate warning about Taiwan set the tone for the summit, and what his decision to leak that statement mid-meeting signals about Chinese tactics. Whether President Trump's equivocation about U.S. arms sales to…

People in this episode

Host: James M. Lindsay

Guest: Nicholas Burns

Topics covered

• U.S.-China relations
• diplomatic negotiations
• Taiwan
• economic agreements
• AI regulation
• Iran war

Keywords

• U.S.-China summit
• Taiwan
• economic deliverables
• diplomatic breakthrough
• AI regulation
• Iran war
• Trump
• Xi Jinping

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Council on Foreign Relations, Harvard University Kennedy School of Government

Places: U.S., China, Taiwan, Iran

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