(This article is part of the View From India newsletter curated by The Hindu’s foreign affairs experts.
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article → curate → experts
U.S. President Donald Trump hosted his Chinese counterpart in Washington on September 23-25, marking the second meeting between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies this year.
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Trump → host → economies
The summit was high on symbolism, with Mr. Trump welcoming the Chinese leader on the tarmac of Joint Base Andrews.
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Trump → welcome → Andrews
Later, at a state dinner, Mr. Trump said the leaders had “never gotten along better”.
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leaders → say → dinner
While the U.S. side placed considerable emphasis on the personal chemistry between the leaders and both parties agreed to hold more high-level meetings, there were few tangible outcomes on the structural issues that continue to strain the relationship.
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that → place → relationship
The summit took place against the backdrop of two conflicts–in Ukraine and Iran– as well as a continuing trade dispute between the U.S. and China.
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summit → take → U.S.
Beijing has a close strategic partnership with Russia, whose invasion of Ukraine has entered its fifth year.
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invasion → have → year
China also remains the largest trading and economic partner of Iran, which was bombed by the U.S. and Israel on February 28, 2026.
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which → remain → February
American policymakers want China to distance itself from both Russia and Iran.
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China → want → Russia
Earlier this month, Mr. Trump signed the Russia sanctions Bill into law, giving him powers to impose tariffs up to 100% on countries that buy oil and gas from Russia.
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that → sign → Russia
But China has shown no signs that it is reconsidering its relations with Russia and Iran.
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it → show → Russia
On trade, the U.S. and China agreed to extend the existing detente by two more months, but tensions remain beneath the surface.
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tensions → agree → surface
For Beijing, as it has made clear repeatedly, Taiwan and the U.S. support for the island remain the brightest of its red lines.
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Taiwan → make → lines
Yet, despite their disagreements and the challenges confronting the relationship, Washington and Beijing seem determined to manage their ties without allowing tensions to escalate into conflict.
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tensions → confront → conflict
To understand this evolving recalibration – its context and substance – I spoke to Ananth Krishnan, The Hindu’s correspondent in China and the author of India’s China Challenge.
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I → understand → Challenge
Here is what he had to say:
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had → say → what
What’s your key takeaway from the Trump-Xi meeting?
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takeaway → ’ → meeting
The visit definitely seemed to be more about pomp and symbolism than substance.
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visit → seem → substance
The optics were no doubt striking, starting with Trump receiving Xi at the airport.
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Trump → start → airport
They agreed to meet two more times this year at APEC in Shenzhen and at the G20 in Miami.
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They → agree → Miami
Clearly, both sides see this frequency of four meetings in one year, including Trump’s May visit to China, as key to sustaining this current effort at stability.
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sides → see → stability
A key takeaway for me is how much the U.S. appears to have bought into China’s idea of what both sides now call a “constructive relationship of strategic stability based on fairness and reciprocity”.
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sides → appear → fairness
This may sound vague and unimportant, especially as the other concrete outcomes on trade were rather modest, limited to just an extension of their current truce.
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outcomes → sound → truce
But below the surface, to me it hints at a new equilibrium and at an effort by both to better manage their rivalry, even if they can’t solve outstanding issues.
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they → hint → issues
How does China look at ties with the U.S. under Trump?
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China → look → Trump
Publicly at least, Chinese officials disavow the idea of a G2.
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officials → disavow → G2
Privately, they certainly look at China and the U.S. as being in a league of their own, and perhaps understandably so.
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they → look → own
I would say they look at the relationship as a blend of two of the latter terms you suggested – a certainly competitive relationship that needs to be managed, and an aspiration of some kind of strategic stability that sees red lines protected.
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lines → say → stability
What has changed perhaps is how this competitive relationship is seen.
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relationship → change → ?
I found interesting what Da Wei, who’s a leading voice in Beijing on China-US relations, argued in his recent Foreign Affairs essay, where he said China was looking at the relationship “from a position of greater equality and with more confidence” and was “less anxious that competition will undermine its national development prospects”.
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competition → find → prospects
I don’t think they are under any illusion that this visit will solve the serious structural problems in a fundamentally competitive relationship, with unresolved issues from semiconductors to rare earths.
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visit → think → earths
But the last few years have, however, appeared to have given China greater confidence in how they manage it.
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they → appear → it
What does this new equilibrium mean for India?
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equilibrium → mean → India
In this editorial, published on September 28, The Hindu argues that New Delhi should carefully watch the evolving great power relationship.
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Delhi → publish → relationship
“The recent U.S. tariff threats aimed at India have offered a stark contrast to the measured language with which Washington has been engaging Beijing.
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Washington → aim → Beijing
For long, a strand of Indian strategic thinking has been predicated on the assumption that U.S. strategy in the region was centred on the idea of a relationship with India as a bulwark against Chinese influence.
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strategy → predicate → influence
That assumption increasingly appears open to question.”
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assumption → appear → question
Mr. Trump’s threat to take over Greenland, an ice-covered Danish territory located between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, had strained the transatlantic relationship earlier this year.
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threat → take → relationship
Greenland, Denmark and America’s European allies had pushed back against the U.S. leader.
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Greenland → push → leader
But under the shadow of the takeover threat, officials from the U.S., Denmark and Greenland continued talks to reach a diplomatic agreement acceptable to all sides.
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officials → continue → sides
…and 3 more, not listed.
The Aporia
