From the moment Donald Trump lands in Beijing on Wednesday, the reception itself is expected to carry meaning for the summit with Xi Jinping—where U.S. and Chinese leaders meet at a restless moment for a world focused on war, trade and artificial intelligence.
The Associated Press reported that Beijing’s diplomatic culture places heavy weight on protocol and ceremony, from who lines up to greet Trump to what music is played and whether Chinese and American children wave flowers and flags. The report said China’s planned welcome is likely designed to flatter Trump and signal favor, rather than to risk public confrontation in front of an audience.
Rush Doshi, a senior fellow for Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and an assistant professor of security studies at Georgetown University, said the spectacle reflects “greater Chinese confidence in their position,” “greater skepticism of Trump,” and “the awkwardness of the current relationship.” Doshi also pointed to how the U.S.-China relationship has shifted over the past nine years, moving from engagement to competition, with the relationship dipping to a low point during the COVID-19 pandemic and trade wars.
The report framed the coming meeting as occurring with added leverage for Xi, citing China’s economic clout and its ability to work through supply-chain dominance. It also said the timing is shaped by the Iran war, which began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Feb. 28 and has left the Strait of Hormuz blocked, rattling global markets.
As a result, the trip’s shape differs from Trump’s 2017 visit. The AP reported that Trump is going to Beijing for a shorter stay than in 2017 and without first lady Melania Trump, and said the reception is unlikely to match the “state visit plus” extravaganza Xi extended to Trump seven years ago.
Danny Russel, a former senior U.S. diplomat, said Beijing is not expected to outdo itself this time. He said the “schedule has been compressed to basically one day and stripped down to the basics,” describing the trip’s structure as tighter than the earlier visit.
The AP reported that China will still stage the kind of ceremonial welcome that officials believe can influence how Trump reacts. Russel said the “pomp and pageantry is designed both to flatter Trump and to pacify him,” making him “more amenable to Chinese asks” and reducing “the risk of an embarrassing public confrontation.” The report added that Trump can also expect the kinds of staged visual details used in earlier visits, including a red-carpet stairway with golden edging, a formal welcome ceremony, an inspection of military honor guards, and a likely 21-gun salute.
Xi, the AP reported, is also expected to offer a special element of the U.S.-China leader relationship in the form of an added gesture, as he did in earlier visits by American presidents. In 2014, Xi accompanied former President Barack Obama on an evening stroll in the leadership compound in Zhongnanhai, and in 2017 he hosted a private dinner for Trump at the Palace Museum. This time, the report said the arrangement is expected to play out at the Temple of Heaven, where Chinese emperors once prayed for bumper harvests.
The AP said Trump is expected to tour the World Heritage site at the Temple of Heaven with Xi, and that the park’s key areas were closed on Tuesday for “the maintenance of ancient architecture,” with the entire park closed on Wednesday and Thursday. The report described that closure as unusual compared with how Beijing handled some other recent foreign leader visits, and noted that Xi did not accompany Britain’s prime minister or Spain’s leader earlier this year when they visited major Beijing sites.
Trump, for his part, has repeatedly referenced the reception from 2017. The AP reported that Trump said in February that Xi “treated me so well, he gave me a display,” adding that he “never saw so many soldiers, all the same height, exactly the same height within a quarter of an inch.” Doshi said how China handles the ceremonial elements and who is shown at higher rank can provide clues about the dynamics of the relationship, adding that “China uses diplomatic protocol as a method of signaling favor or disfavor.”