Gideon Rachman speaks to James Crabtree, former head of the Asia programme at the International Institute for Strategic Studies and author of The Perimeter, about Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing, his first in a decade. What do Washington and Beijing hope to gain, and what does the trip reveal about the evolving balance of power between the world’s two leading superpowers?

Free links to read more on this topic:

Donald Trump’s plan to discuss Taiwan arms sales with Xi Jinping rattles Asian allies

Trump is up against China’s great wall of confidence

Trump’s war has given China an economic opening

Trump, Xi and the bid for a ‘grand bargain’ between superpowers

Trump prepares to press Xi on Iran war

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Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Nisha Patel. Sound design is by Breen

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Trump returns to Beijing: what’s at stake

The Rachman Review