The Shadow Play on Trade: Trump and Xi's Beijing Summit The choreographed ceremonies and carefully staged optics in Beijing this week served as a potent reminder that symbolism can be just as important as substance in high stakes diplomacy.
The meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping yielded no sweeping trade breakthrough or major business agreements, but it did reveal a deeper understanding of what's at stake.
The White House described the meeting as "highly productive," while Trump himself called it potentially "the biggest summit ever. " Behind the diplomatic niceties, however, a more nuanced picture emerges.