My foreign policy guy, George Friedman, continues to be optimistic about the Xi/Trump summit. He quotes a substantial bloc of Xi's speech and argues that Xi therein repudiated Communist doctrine.
Xi’s speech, then, in tone and substance was a refutation of the principles on which Maoist China was founded. Who it was said to is even more important. In this, I do not mean Trump; I mean the Chinese nation, which heard or read it in full.
Ideology was absent. In its place was geopolitical necessity. The Chinese public heard this necessity loud and clear: China needs access to the U.S. economy, indicating Xi thinks the U.S. needs that as well.
Friedman believes Xi argues for large areas of agreement between our two countries, and claims it is doable without major policy upsets in either. If Friedman is correct, and if Xi means what he said, good things are possible. It is premature to call them "probable."
