May 20, 2026

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

35 minutes

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 Taiwan and the One China policy constitutes a major strategic mistake and what it means for American credibility with allies in the Indo-Pacific.

What the presence of Putin in Beijing immediately after Trump's visit reveals about Chinese strategic alignments.

Why an emerging U.S.-China dialogue on artificial intelligence regulation could prove to be the most consequential and underappreciated outcome of the Beijing summit.

What concrete benchmarks—from tariff agreements to arms sales to Chinese follow-through on commitments—will determine whether this summit actually put U.S.-China relations on a more stable footing.

Mentioned on the Episode:

"Joint Statement Following Discussions with Leaders of the People's Republic of China (Shanghai Communiqué)" U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian

"President Reagan's Six Assurances to Taiwan" Congressional Research Service

"Readout of President Joe Biden's Meeting with President Xi Jinping of the People's Republic of China" The White House

"Taiwan Relations Act" Pub. L. 96–8, enacted April 10, 1979

"United States-China Joint Communiqué on United States Arms Sales to Taiwan" Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

"U.S.-PRC Joint Communiqué (1979)" U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/presidents-inbox/what-trump-and-xi-didnt-settle-in-beijing

Opinions expressed on The President’s Inbox are solely those of the host or guests, not of CFR, which takes no institutional positions on matters of policy.

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