What Actually Happened in Beijing? - with Carice Witte

Was the Trump-Xi summit a win, a loss or neutral?

Trump’s summit with Xi Jinping ended with no major breakthrough, no dramatic concession, and no public rupture. But according to Carice Witte, Founder and Executive Director of SIGNAL Group, that may be the real story. China projected confidence, framed itself as America’s peer, and tried to turn the summit into proof of U.S. decline. Yet on Taiwan, Iran, and regional leverage, Beijing got far less than it wanted.

Carice joins Dan to unpack what really happened in Beijing, why China wants Iran weak but intact, how Israel’s military successes have changed Beijing’s view of Jerusalem, and what Israel should do differently as China watches the war from the other side of the world.

Learn more about SIGNAL Group.

In this episode:

- Why Beijing wanted the summit to look like a win

- What Xi’s “Thucydides Trap” message signaled

- The Taiwan concession Trump did not give

- Why China wants Iran weak but still useful

- Keeping Hormuz open and Iran non-nuclear

- China’s support for Iran and the limits of plausible deniability

- How October 7th changed China’s view of Israel

- What Israel should do differently on China
This episode was sponsored by Hadassah. Please go to Hadassah.org to make a gift that helps Hadassah continue its longstanding, life-changing support for the people in Israel.

Learn more about the Shalom Hartman Institute’s Community Leadership Program.

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Credits: Ilan Benatar, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Yuval Semo