{
  "id": 12018328,
  "title": "Zheng Yongnian on China-US realism and battling for the upper hand before the next summit",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/04/zheng-yongnian-on-china-us-realism-and-battling-for-the-upper-hand-12018328",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-04T22:00:17.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "South China Morning Post",
    "slug": "south-china-morning-post",
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3369686/zheng-yongnian-china-us-realism-and-battling-upper-hand-next-summit"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Zheng Yongnian, a Chinese political scientist and government adviser, weighs in on the Xi-Trump summit in Washington. He argues that realism should guide our assessment of China-US relations, recognizing that both nations are major powers with distinct national interests. Cooperation and competition are inevitable, but the summit achieved the best possible outcome given the current circumstances. Economic and trade relations have become more stable, with complementary economies and shared consensus on the importance of these ties. However, political trust remains insufficient for addressing security issues. The Chinese side's focus on military-to-military communication and security concerns contrasts with the US's emphasis on trilateral arms control negotiations, highlighting differing priorities. Despite these differences, both sides recognize the need for cooperation on Taiwan and the South China Sea. To ensure a durable, stable relationship beyond Trump's presidency, China and the US must build political trust through frequent communication and work together to address their most significant security concerns.",
  "summary": "Zheng Yongnian is a political scientist and government adviser in China. His work focuses on contemporary China, its politics, transformation, and external relations.\n\nThe Xi-Trump summit in Washington has been assessed as lacking a breakthrough. Two views on China-US relations have emerged: nihilism, which sees the two countries as bound to fight for global dominance, and idealism, which expects all differences to be resolved at once.\n\nZheng advocates for a realistic assessment of China-US relations, noting that both countries have coexisted as major powers so far. He believes they will remain in a de facto G2, navigating between being two superpowers and exercising joint governance, with cooperation and competition coexisting due to distinct national interests.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Reuters Business via SCMP",
        "title": "Zheng Yongnian on China-US realism and battling for the upper hand before the next summit",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/04/zheng-yongnian-on-china-us-realism-and-battling-for-the-upper-hand",
        "published": "2026-10-04T22:00:17.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}