In previous tense moments, the two leaders, Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi, sometimes smoothed differences with a long phone call or a meeting. It has happened in the past when commercial fights broke out, as well as early in the coronavirus outbreak, when rhetoric between the two sides intensified.
However, the tone now in Washington has worsened. And Trump no longer seems interested in calming the crisis.
“Xi Jinping could take the initiative instead,” said Susan L. Shirk, the president of the 21st Century China Center at the University of California, San Diego. “Xi could also demonstrate China’s benign intentions by inviting the United States to join him in leading an international effort to now plan for the fair testing, manufacturing and distribution of the Covid vaccine.”
Washington’s harsh policies and harsher rhetoric indicate that the United States, not China, is setting the tone of confrontation ever stronger in the bilateral relationship. “I think he could have originally criticized the Chinese for much of the imbalance,” said Orville Schell, director of the Center for US-China Relations at the Asia Society, “but now the United States doesn’t seem so hot to leave the door open. as a remedy, as he is arching his back against China. “
Given the breadth of American actions and the increasingly bipartisan support, it is not clear that China can expect improvement even if Trump’s challenger, Joseph R. Biden Jr., wins the election.
Mr. Schell noted that, as Vice President, Mr. Biden met with Mr. Xi frequently, including traveling together.
“There is a kind of symmetry there that I could use to reformulate the relationship,” he said. “The real question is whether Xi can answer the same way, if giving a little to get a little is seen as a weakness.”
