Scott Kennedy on the Xi-Trump summit and US-China instability

Scott Kennedy, a senior adviser at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, focuses on US-China relations. The US and China recently held a summit, with Chinese President Xi Jinping visiting Washington DC for a three-day meeting with US President Donald Trump.

The summit resulted in expressions of goodwill between the leaders, but no significant progress on longstanding differences between the two countries. One concrete outcome was the loan of two giant pandas, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, to the Atlanta zoo in Georgia. The pandas departed from Chengdu in southwestern China on a FedEx plane, accompanied by steamed corn buns, carrots, and bamboo for their journey.

The thaw in US-China ties has been welcomed by Southeast Asia, with analysts suggesting that the region may feel less pressure due to fewer open frictions between the two nations. However, caution persists as deeper disputes remain unresolved. According to some analysts, stable relations between the US and China could ease pressure on countries in the region, slow supply-chain disintegration, and reduce the intensity of great-power competition in areas like the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea.

Brief written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post, The Guardian, The Guardian US, Reuters Business via SCMP, DW News — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.