RealClearPolitics Washington bureau chief Carl Cannon and RCP president Tom Bevan debated the value of President Trump’s public praise for Chinese President Xi Jinping following this week’s summit in Beijing, and what Trump’s style of “personal diplomacy” really accomplishes. The trip doesn’t seem very significant to me, Cannon said, Friday on the RCP Podcast. I’m not sure I agree with the idea that having a personal relationship with these leaders is helpful. How does it translate into policy? I’m unconvinced. Watch: Trump: Xi Is “Central Casting” As A Chinese Leader “Xi is a cold-blooded, unsentimental person who has goals whose goals are pretty straightforward: keeping himself in power and increasing China’s influence,” he said. “I don’t think a few moments where Trump and Xi let their hair down and enjoy each other’s company really matter much.” Bevan pushed back, arguing that personal relationships between leaders can matter during crises. You don’t think it’s important that if something happened around the world, or there was some flashpoint, that it’s good for Trump to be able to dial up Xi and they know each other? Bevan asked. “Do you think not talking to them is somehow going to give America more influence in righting those wrongs or influencing them?” I don’t mind talking to him, Cannon concluded. What I mind is the president of the United States coming back and gushing over the guy like he’s some drunk in a bar. That’s what I object to. “If you think about all of our diplomacy with China over the years, going all the way back to Nixon, it’s built around these summits with pomp and circumstance. It’s a way that relationship has been managed since the ’60s,” Andrew Walworth added.
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