ALL eyes were on Beijing from 13th to 15th May as President of the United States of America Donald Trump paid a state visit to China. This was Trump’s second state visit to China and the first in his second tenure as President. Trump’s first state visit happened November 2017 when he interacted with the Chinese President Xi Jinping during his first presidency and this visit was also the first time in nine years that the US president is in China. During this visit Trump received a red carpet welcome at the airport with a guard of honor and was then welcomed by Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People and after that he was taken to the temple of Heaven and had detailed discussions with the Chinese leaders led by Xi Jinping. Trump is the second US President to visit the Temple after President Gerald Ford in 1975. In the lead-up to the summit, regional security concerns regarding the conflict with Iran became a key diplomatic focus. On April 16, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that Beijing had provided high-level assurances to the White House that it would not send weapons to Iran, explicitly ruling out the potential transfer of surface-to-air missiles to the Iranian military. Hegseth attributed this breakthrough to the “strong and direct relationship” between President Trump and Xi Jinping. Steve Daines led the first bipartisan U.S. Senate delegation to visit China since President Donald Trump took office in 2025, with the group traveling to Beijing and Shanghai to meet Chinese officials and visit technology companies. On 7 May, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and National People’s Congress Standing Committee Chairman Zhao Leji separately met with the delegation in Beijing.Chinese leader Xi Jinping hailed the US-China relationship as the world’s most consequential, telling President Donald Trump: “We must make it work and never mess it up.” Earlier in the summit, Xi warned Taiwan “is the most important issue in China-US relations” and it could create a “very dangerous situation” if mishandled. The war with Iran and the ensuing global energy crisis were the key topic during the deliberations between the two sides both leaders agreed that the Strait of Hormuz a chokepoint vital to the oil trade “Must remain Open” according to American sources. Xi welcomed US business leaders who traveled with Trump. The US president told Xi the CEOs, including Tim Cook and Elon Musk, came to China to “pay respects” and build business. After the welcome ceremonies at the Great Hall of the people the two leaders held a bilateral meeting where the Middle East situation was discussed in detail including the Ukraine war. The day ended by a state banquet which had lobster in tomato soup and crispy beef ribs. Iranians closely watched President Donald Trump’s visit to China — the leader of one of their most implacable enemies, meeting a powerful partner of Iran. And with the Iran war so high on the agenda in Beijing, state media in Tehran is almost gloating at the spectacle. One headline, on the IRNA state news agency, reads: “Trump visits China in the shadow of failure and stalemate.” The United States is now turning to other nations, the article continues, to help manage its regional conflict.
But the truth is, both the US and Iran now seem to be looking to China for a way out of their deadlock, including the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the inability to agree a compromise on Iran’s nuclear activities.Iranian officials are calling for China — which is the Islamic Republic’s most important trading partner and buyer of most of its oil — to help mediate an end to the standoff. Washington, meanwhile, wants Beijing to pressure Tehran to accept its terms. China is one of the few countries whose ships are permitted by Iran to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a sign of their friendly ties.On Wednesday, as Trump was in Beijing for meetings with President Xi Jinping, a Chinese-registered super tanker carrying two million barrels of oil was allowed by Iran to transit after being stranded in the Persian Gulf since early March. It could be seen as a timely reminder from Tehran of the tangible benefits to Beijing of a close relationship.Beijing put on a spectacle designed to flatter Trump ahead of any deal to prove China’s door is open to guests. However, soon after talks began, state media published comments from Xi making clear that tensions over Taiwan could prove challenging.But the meticulous choreography was not just for the benefit of Trump and the 30 CEOs who accompanied him. It was also a show of strength, which Beijing knows will be beamed live across the US and the world. “We are witnessing a historical change,” says John Delury, a senior fellow from the Centre on US-China Relations at the Asia Society. “I hesitate to put too much on this specific summit, but the inexorable rise of China to a place where it is legitimately rivalling the U.S. – that is now happening before our eyes. Beijing is now the second world capital.
—The writer is Professor of History, based in Islamabad
