Today, Chinese emperor Xi Jinping accorded his vassal, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, the same red-carpet treatment Donald Trump got last week. Despite assertions that the President’s pomp-and-circumstance was evidence of respect that offset Xi’s several affronts and otherwise aggressive attitude, the message is clear: China’s ruler is actually an enemy. 

That reality was central to a PresentDangerChina.org webinar on Monday which critically examined last week’s Beijing summit and its outcomes. Our experts agreed that Xi’s regime is in acute political, economic and strategic difficulty, if not extremis, and that Mr. Trump has considerable leverage. But that can translate into heightened danger. 

That’s especially the case if the Xi-Putin meeting fits a pattern of such summits serving as preludes to joint “strategic arson.” If Xi feels emboldened to act against Taiwan, giving Russia its marching orders would be a precursor. 

Watch this space.

This is Frank Gaffney.