President Donald Trump is traveling Wednesday to Osaka, Japan, for the G-20 leaders’ summit, where the packed agenda includes a much-anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. “The world’s eyes will be on the Trump-Xi meeting,” WPR columnist Stewart Patrick wrote this week, as the two leaders will try to get negotiations for a trade deal back on track after talks broke down last month. From Japan, Trump will travel on to South Korea for talks with President Moon Jae-in about how to restart stalled diplomacy with North Korea over its nuclear program.
As the former top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, Susan Thornton has a unique perspective on both of these issues. Thornton retired last year after 28 years in the Foreign Service and is now a senior fellow at the Paul Tsai China Center at Yale Law School. She joins WPR associate editor Elliot Waldman for a conversation about the prospects for restarting negotiations with both China and North Korea. They also discuss the ongoing protests in Hong Kong, and the challenge they pose for authorities in Beijing.
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Relevant Articles on WPR:
Setting the Scene—and the Expectations—for the G-20 Summit in Japan
Why a Cold War With China Would Be So Costly
Hong Kong’s Protests Show the Biggest Challenge to China’s Rise Is at Home
Trump, the ‘Great Negotiator,’ Risks Losing Deals With China, Iran and North Korea
Trend Lines was produced and edited this week by Andrew Green. You can follow him on Twitter at @_andrew_green.
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