Negotiating Stability: Da Wei on a Xi-Trump Deal and Summit

"The US has left a vacuum for the world, but no country can and no country wants to fill that vacuum." — Da Wei

Today’s edition opens with an introduction by a figure I respect greatly, François Godement—Special Advisor and Resident Senior Fellow for Asia and America at the Institut Montaigne. He was previously a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and, until last year, an external consultant to France’s Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. Formerly Director of ECFR’s Asia & China Programme, he has taught at Sciences Po and INALCO, founded the Centre Asie at IFRI (1985–2005), and established the think tank Asia Centre in 2005. It is a privilege to have him contribute. — Thomas

This issue of Sinification focuses on the short-term prospects of the U.S.–China trade confrontation, drawing on a compelling interview with Da Wei, now a Tsinghua academic and former director of American affairs at CICIR. His most noteworthy assessment is that China could settle for a tariff level significantly higher than the rates currently agreed by America’s allies. And whil…