Trump returns to Beijing: what’s at stake

Trump returns to Beijing: what’s at stake

From The Rachman Review by Financial Times

May 14, 2026 · 32 min

About this episode

Gideon Rachman discusses Donald Trump's visit to Beijing and its implications for US-China relations with James Crabtree.

Gideon Rachman speaks to James Crabtree, former head of the Asia programme at the International Institute for Strategic Studies and author of  The Perimeter , about Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing, his first in a decade. What do Washington and Beijing hope to gain, and what does the trip reveal about the evolving balance of power between the world’s two leading superpowers? Free links to read more on this topic: Donald Trump’s plan to discuss Taiwan arms sales with Xi Jinping rattles Asian allies Trump is up against China’s great wall of confidence Trump’s war has given China an economic opening Trump, Xi and the bid for a ‘grand bargain’ between superpowers    Trump prepares to press Xi on Iran war   Subscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts — please listen, rate and subscribe. Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Nisha Patel. Sound design is by Breen  Turner Follow Gideon on Bluesky or X @gideonrachman.bsky.social , @gideonrachman Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: Gideon Rachman

Guest: James Crabtree

Topics covered

  • US-China relations
  • Trump visit
  • geopolitical power
  • Taiwan
  • Iran

Keywords

  • Trump
  • Beijing
  • China
  • geopolitics
  • Taiwan
  • Iran
  • superpowers

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: International Institute for Strategic Studies

Books & works: The Perimeter

Places: Beijing, Washington, China, Taiwan, Iran

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