You could not imagine two more diametrically opposed world leaders – in terms of policy and personal style – than US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.
Trump is forever on social media, arrogant, brash and an inveterate flip-flopper.
Xi says little in public, is not arrogant and has the sort of diplomatic gravitas Trump can only wish for.
Since taking office in January last year, Trump has been the bully boy of the world, tossing out threats, alienating friends and making enemies more determined.
But on his visit to China this week – he was last there in 2017 – Trump is not going to meet a fawning pushover, eager to soothe the man who would be Emperor of the world’s Number One superpower.
He’s going to meet someone who presides over a nation which can now, with some justification, contest for that superpower title itself.
This will not be a meeting between a baas and some kind of second-class citizen, no matter what Trump’s right-wing supporters may think. This will be a meeting of equals.
And, if the US leader doesn’t acknowledge that, the talks about easing trade tensions between the two will go nowhere.
The reality is that, since Trump’s last visit to China, Beijing’s exports to the US have declined significantly, to the point where they make up just over 2% of Chinese gross domestic product.
It is true that China’s roaring economy has become somewhat muted in the past year or two and there are some structural problems, but then the US has problems as bad, if not bigger.
By his behaviour in the past two years, Trump has made the US into a country seen by many as one which cannot be trusted.
Beijing is already taking diplomatic advantage of that. A little humility from Trump could work wonders.
