Beijing —
When I began covering US-China relations as a young journalist in the late 1990s, the sticking points between the two countries, especially when it came to high-level meetings, were often summarized as the three Ts: Tiananmen, Tibet and Taiwan.
The first two Ts referred to the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters and the Beijing-controlled Himalayan region once ruled by the exiled Dalai Lama, respectively – both tied to China’s human rights record.
Fast forward to the latest talks in Beijing between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week: Almost a decade has passed since Trump’s last visit – Joe Biden never made it here during his presidency – and the themes for such summits have evolved to see a different trio of Ts emerge on top of the agenda: tariffs, technology and Taiwan (with the addition of Tehran as the fourth T this time).
While Taiwan, the island democracy that Beijing claims as its own, remains in the “most important” category from China’s perspective, other priorities have shifted from values-based issues to trade and economy.
