The Great Pretenders: Xi and Trump's Beijing Dance As the world watches, Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump have taken to the stage in Beijing, exchanging smiles, toasts, and empty promises.
Seated together at a state banquet, they hailed their relationship as the "most consequential" in the world.
Behind this carefully choreographed dance lies a web of contradictions, fragile alliances, and unspoken tensions. At its core, the visit is about setting the stage for the next three years of Sino US relations.