Narratives in international diplomacy are best formed through an organic process as the variables in any given situation get played out in the fulness of time and a ‘new normal’ accrues as critical mass. Or else, they risk being false narratives.
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A classic case is the western narrative regarding Ukraine following the Russian intervention in 2022. No sooner than Biden presidency ended, the globalist agenda began unravelling.
The US’ European allies find themselves abandoned today and are an embittered lot unable to coherently explain their continued espousal of Ukraine’s eligibility for EU membership — leave alone their advocacy of the war itself.
A similar thing is happening over the USPresident Donald Trump’sstate visit to China. Even as the visit got under way, a narrative surfaced that Trump’s Chinese hostssnubbed him by extending a low-level reception when Air Force One landed; thatPresident Xi Jinpingdominated him; that Trump uncharacteristically caved in, etc. Some have rushed to pass verdict that we are witnessing another ‘Suez moment’ like in 1956 heralding the decline of a reigning superpower (US) and the ascendance of another superpower (China).
Trump’s detractors in the US and abroad decry that he came away empty-handed without achieving any breakthrough in US-China relations or claiming any ‘takeaways’ and that he allegedly allowed his Chinese host to dominate him.
But the fact of the matter is that the Chinese hosts extended an exceptionally warm reception for Trump. Trump’s itinerary included a rare tour of the hallowed grounds of the ancient Temple of Heaven complex, accompanied by Xi, which Singapore-based Channel News Asia noted as, “Peace, prosperity, political legitimacy — and perhaps even “heaven’s will”. There was no shortage of symbolism … in what appeared to be one of the most carefully choreographed moments.”
Seldom do summits descend to ‘working level.’ Besides, in this case, according to reports, Trump and Xi are expected to meet four times this year and, obviously, there is a time and place for conducting business.
If the main agenda was to reinforce the personal equations between the two leaders, to keep the US-China tensions under check and to choreograph a pathway to navigate the US-China relationship in an incredibly complicated international milieu, the state visit seems to have served its purpose.
Source: Global Research
