Duncan Hewitt

[instrumental music] Welcome to China in Context from the SOAS China Institute at the University of London.

I'm Duncan Hewitt.

The two summits this year between President Trump and China's leader, Xi Jinping, have led some observers to suggest that the balance of power between the two countries is shifting in China's direction, and that increasingly it's the US which is making concessions to Beijing rather than the other way around.

Not everyone agrees, of course, but there's no doubt that China's international status has been enhanced in recent years.

But the General Assembly is a matter of politicking, and this is where the Chinese are gaining traction, and they are much more able to declare a moral victory in securing UN General Assembly support when the UN Security Council is unable to act.

Well, Steve Tsang, thank you so much for talking to us on China in Context.

Well, thank you very much, Duncan.

Well, that's all we have time for on this episode.

Welcome to China in Context from the SOAS China Institute at the University of London.

I'm Duncan Hewitt.

Donald Trump's visit to Beijing in May this year, the first by a US president in almost a decade, was seen as a chance to reset relations after a year of tariff wars and tension in the US over Chinese technology.

President Trump came away with Chinese pledges to buy more US agricultural goods and Boeing aircraft, and the two sides agreed to set up boards of trade and investment and build what they called a constructive relationship of strategic stability.

And we've also had an acknowledgement that the US has deployed weapons in space, something which has caused anxiety in China.

So how does all of this fit together with the two nations pledge to form this new stable and constructive relationship?

I think what it points out, Duncan, is that it is still very much wet clay in terms of the way in which China policy is being constructed here in Washington.

And no less than that, we should note that it's still pretty wet clay or perhaps the softer soil of the Yellow River Valley.