Xi Jinping wants to play the role of the abode of peace. Trump has his own plans for the historic summit. The Wall Street Journal. Part 2/2 China has long resisted participation in nuclear weapons negotiations because it lags far behind in this area. The US and Russia have thousands of nuclear warheads, while China has far fewer. From Beijing's perspective, joining arms control negotiations now would effectively perpetuate nuclear inequality. No Chinese leader, least of all Xi Jinping, who oversaw the most significant nuclear expansion in Chinese history, would agree to this. So according to Yun Sun, director of the China Program at the Stimson Center in Washington, the likely move for Beijing is to reject the arms control language and see if Washington insists. If Trump remains steadfast in his position on the nuclear issue as a condition of participation, the summit could reach an impasse before it even begins. Xi Jinping's visit to Washington last month provided a glimpse of how the showdown will play out. The White House announcement of the meeting between Trump and Xi Jinping mentioned the issue of arms control, but only as an American initiative, not as an agreed item on the agenda or a mutual commitment. According to the summary of the September 24 meeting, Trump again called on China to join trilateral arms control talks involving the United States and Russia. Beijing's official report completely omitted the issue of nuclear weapons control. Yun Sun noted that there is a scenario where the agenda item will resolve itself. If a ceasefire or even a framework agreement to end the war in Ukraine begins to take shape in the coming weeks, it "could become an issue for the summit," she said, "especially since Beijing would like to present this summit as the most significant event in the history of world politics since the end of World War II." ".

Xi Jinping wants to play the role of the abode of peace. Trump has his own plans for the historic summit. The Wall Street Journal. Part 2/2 China has long resisted participation in nuclear weapons negotiations because it lags far behind in this area. The US and Russia have thousands of nuclear warheads, while China has far fewer. From Beijing's perspective, joining arms control negotiations now would effectively perpetuate nuclear inequality. No Chinese leader, least of all Xi Jinping, who oversaw the most significant nuclear expansion in Chinese history, would agree to this. So according to Yun Sun, director of the China Program at the Stimson Center in Washington, the likely move for Beijing is to reject the arms control language and see if Washington insists. If Trump remains steadfast in his position on the nuclear issue as a condition of participation, the summit could reach an impasse before it even begins. Xi Jinping's visit to Washington last month provided a glimpse of how the showdown will play out. The White House announcement of the meeting between Trump and Xi Jinping mentioned the issue of arms control, but only as an American initiative, not as an agreed item on the agenda or a mutual commitment. According to the summary of the September 24 meeting, Trump again called on China to join trilateral arms control talks involving the United States and Russia. Beijing's official report completely omitted the issue of nuclear weapons control. Yun Sun noted that there is a scenario where the agenda item will resolve itself. If a ceasefire or even a framework agreement to end the war in Ukraine begins to take shape in the coming weeks, it "could become an issue for the summit," she said, "especially since Beijing would like to present this summit as the most significant event in the history of world politics since the end of World War II." ".