The personal dynamic between Trump and Xi is rooted in a similar psychological need for respect and even fawning from their counterparts. This mutual quest for admiration allowed them to connect on a personal level, smoothing over diplomatic tensions during their summit.
China aims for maximum self-sufficiency while simultaneously encouraging foreign economic dependence on its market. This calculated strategy creates powerful geopolitical leverage, as countries like Germany become hesitant to challenge China for fear of damaging their significant commercial interests.
Trump's effusive expressions of respect and friendship towards Xi Jinping, while potentially synthetic, effectively leveraged the Chinese leadership's desire for "mutual respect." This personal approach created a positive atmosphere, serving as a transactional tool to smooth diplomatic interactions.
The US policy of engagement with China was viable only as long as China appeared to be on a path of reform and convergence. Xi Jinping's consolidation of power and abandonment of this reformist trend effectively killed the rationale for engagement, ushering in the current era of hostility.
The Trump-Xi summit appeared successful because it carefully avoided substantive engagement on the most difficult issues like Taiwan and trade imbalances. By creating positive atmospherics and "kicking the can down the road" on intractable problems, both leaders could claim a victory without making real concessions.
Xi Jinping's regime views humanism—universal values and independent thought—as a "spiritual pollution" that threatens one-party rule. This ideological rigidity prevents him from making small concessions to achieve larger goals, which is the essence of diplomacy, making genuine compromise unlikely.
Deng Xiaoping's 1979 trip to the US rapidly dissolved America's Cold War antipathy towards China, creating a "love fest" that fundamentally reset the relationship. This event stands as the historical benchmark for a true inflection point, a feat that today's leaders aspire to but find difficult to achieve amid deeper conflicts.