The Trump-Xi summit exposes a US disadvantage in the Global South

Founding director of the China Institute and Mactaggart Research Chair Emeritus at the University of Alberta.Published On 25 Sep 202625 Sep 2026Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the United States came with all the choreography: a B-2 flyover, pandas, a Nixon-era toast. But for anyone watching from the Global South, the spectacle was beside the point. More important was Beijing’s emphasis on “constructive strategic stability” in its relationship with Washington. For capitals from Riyadh to New Delhi to Jakarta, the summit offered a glimpse of how they may navigate relations with the two powers over the rest of this decade.Beijing emerged from the summit offering diplomatic cover without military entanglement. Washington, by contrast, came to the meeting already embroiled in the nearly seven-month US-Israeli war on Iran, pressing allies on trade, reasserting US dominance in Latin America, and demanding that the Global South choose sides in its effort to contain China, all while Trump himself toasted Xi and hailed the summit as a success. For governments across the Global South being urged to distance themselves from Beijing, that contrast will not go unnoticed.The Middle ...