China’s Xi Jinping warns of world being at ‘crossroads’ and talks of overcoming ‘Thucydides Trap’  

President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping began their summit on Thursday, with delegations from each country meeting in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People. The meeting commenced after Xi greeted Trump and the U.S. delegation with a festive welcome ceremony outside the building earlier in the day. After both exchanged platitudes in the high-stakes meeting, Xi warned that the world was at a delicate inflection point as it carefully observed the summit between the two powers.

The two leaders sat at an open rectangular table, with a simulated lawn containing flowery bushes in the middle open area. Trump and Xi faced each other and were seated in the center of the tables and their respective delegations. The meeting lasted for approximately two hours, according to reports. Trump was positive and optimistic, expressing gratitude for the welcoming reception, was complimentary of Xi and China, and touted knowing each other “a long time.”

“You and I have known each other now for a long time, in fact, the longest relationship of our two countries that any president and president has had, and that’s, to me, an honor,” Trump said in his opening remarks. “We’ve had a fantastic relationship, we’ve gotten along. When there were difficulties, we worked it out. I would call you or you would call me….When we had a problem we worked it out very quickly.”

Trump then expressed optimism for future relations between China and the U.S., predicting the relationship between the two countries would “be better than ever before.”

“It’s an honor to be with you,” Trump said. “It’s an honor to be your friend, and the relationship between China and the U.S.A. is going to be better than ever before.” 

Meanwhile, Xi held a different tone, according to reports, warning that the world was at a “crossroads” with current geopolitical tensions. He stressed that the U.S. and China should be allies rather than adversaries. He also referenced the noteworthy theory in international relations, the Thucydides Trap, to describe the current state of affairs between the U.S. and China, and hoped the two countries could avoid the theorized phenomenon.  

“The whole world is watching our meeting,” Xi reportedly said during his opening comments.

“As the once-in-a-century transformation accelerates and the international landscape undergoes change and turmoil, the world has reached a new crossroads,” said Xi. “Can China and the United States overcome the Thucydides Trap and establish a new paradigm for relations between great powers?”

The Thucydides Trap is an international relations theory that describes the ascension of a new power rivaling an existing hegemon in geopolitics. Theorists suggest that tensions arising from the situation have often led to war between the two countries. The term comes from a historical account of the Peloponnesian War between Sparta (the dominant existing power) and Athens (the rising new state), written by the ancient Greek historian and military general Thucydides in his work, History of the Peloponnesian War. 

To avoid a military conflict, Xi urged stability in China-U.S. geopolitics, suggesting that when the two countries get along, it is best for the world. He called for cooperation between the two world powers. 

“Cooperation benefits both sides, while confrontation harms both,” Xi said. “The two countries should be partners rather than rivals, achieve success together and pursue common prosperity, and chart a correct path for major-country relations in the new era.”

He also congratulated the U.S. on celebrating the 250th anniversary of the “founding of the United States” and hoped that 2026 would be a “landmark year” in geopolitics between the two countries, the Associated Press reported.

“This year marks the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. I extend my congratulations to you and to the American people,” Xi said.