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China's Xi wants a "constructive, strategic, stable relationship." What does that mean?

Analysis by Sylvie Zhuang in Hong Kong

In his meeting with US President Donald Trump today, China’s leader Xi Jinping uttered four words he said he hoped would define the US-China ties of the future: “Constructive, strategic, stable relationship.”

What does this phrase mean?

According to Chinese experts, it reflects Beijing’s underlying premise that the US-China relationship is a relatively difficult one to manage.

“Because the US is not a partner, and certainly not an ally, that said, we don’t want it to become an enemy, nor do we want conflict to arise because of this,” said Da Wei, an international relations scholar at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Da said by putting forward this term, Beijing is saying it wants to avoid things spinning out of control into a war or decoupling, and that it wants a stable base upon which to build ties with the US.

But according to Shi Yinhong, an international relations scholar at the Renmin University of China, the phrase is only “cheap rhetoric” until both sides answer the question on what mutual concessions they will make and what mechanisms will be in place to guide their relations.