China’s Xi Jinping Discusses Thucydides Trap in U.S. Visit
- Chinese President Xi Jinping stated that the Thucydides Trap can be overcome during his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.
- Xi emphasized the importance of healthy competition between the U.S. and China, calling for improved military crisis communication.
- This state visit marked Xi’s first trip to the U.S. in 11 years, aiming to establish a basis for bilateral relations without military conflict.
BEIJING — During his arrival at the White House for discussions with U.S. President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping asserted that “The Thucydides Trap can be overcome,” reflecting a perspective of competition without confrontation. This was a notable contrast to his previous inquiry at a May summit about the feasibility of avoiding this historical trap, which suggests that rising and ruling powers often encounter conflict.
The concept of the Thucydides Trap was popularized by Harvard professor Graham Allison, highlighting historic tensions leading to war between established and emerging powers. The term derives from Thucydides, an ancient Greek historian whose accounts of the Peloponnesian War illustrated how Athens’ ascent threatened Sparta, making war appear inevitable.
Allison, who has previously met Xi and visited China, emphasized the implications of such historical tensions for contemporary relations. He was the founding dean of Harvard’s Kennedy School, which has trained numerous Chinese officials over the years. Allison also served in the U.S. government as Assistant Secretary of Defense under President Bill Clinton and as Special Advisor under President Ronald Reagan.
Xi first referenced the Thucydides Trap in a rare 2014 interview, advocating for collaborative efforts to mitigate destructive tensions between powers. His latest remarks about overcoming this trap were paired with assertions of the potential for peaceful coexistence between the U.S. and China, encouraging “healthy” competition devoid of confrontational dynamics.
A New Approach to Bilateral Relations
This visit marked Xi’s first state engagement in the U.S. in over a decade. Following his 2015 visit, Chinese state media highlighted Xi’s perspective that the conflicts predicted by the Thucydides Trap result more from mutual suspicion among major powers than from any inherent inevitability.
During the discussions, Xi proposed that competition should not be characterized as a struggle with a winner and a loser. Instead, he underlined the necessity for both nations’ militaries to enhance communication and crisis management. According to Cui Shoujun, a professor at Renmin University of China, establishing a clear boundary for intense competition without military engagement is a significant political achievement of the summit, providing stability to a previously volatile bilateral relationship.
Additionally, Trump’s welcoming comments reinforced a general tone of collaboration. Notably, he has not made any statements regarding Taiwan during this summit, even as Xi urged the U.S. to “oppose ‘Taiwan independence,'” which was noted in the official readout of their discussions.
News Courtesy of CNBC
