In what is being described as the first US presidential state visit to China in nearly a decade, Donald Trump touched down in Beijing this week for face time with Xi Jinping - and the world collectively held its breath, squinted, and waited to see who would blink first.
According to France 24's The World This Week, the visit covered the usual greatest hits: trade disputes, technology rivalries, and the ever-present Taiwan question hovering over proceedings like an uninvited guest at a dinner party that everyone is desperately pretending not to notice.
The conversation nobody had
Here is the thing though. Beneath the handshakes, the state banquet small talk, and the carefully choreographed photo opportunities, analysts and observers are pointing to a much larger and thornier question that went conspicuously unaddressed: can the United States and China actually share the 21st century, or is some kind of major confrontation simply baked into the geopolitical cake at this point?
It is the kind of question that does not get a clean answer over a plate of Peking duck. The two nations are deeply economically entangled - think of it as two people who absolutely cannot stand each other but share a mortgage, a Netflix account, and a very complicated supply chain.
What was actually on the table
Trade remains the loudest flashpoint, with tariffs, deficits and market access continuing to generate friction. Technology is arguably the more existential battleground - semiconductors, AI development and telecommunications infrastructure are all areas where Washington and Beijing are sprinting in opposite directions while simultaneously trying to poach each other's lunch.
Taiwan, as always, sat in the background like a ticking timer that both sides agreed, for now, not to look at directly.
Meanwhile, in the rest of the world...
France 24's broader weekly roundup also touched on developments in Westminster and what it describes as a 'French pivot' - suggesting that Europe's geopolitical positioning is quietly shifting as the big two demand more and more of the global attention span.
Which, honestly, tracks. When the US and China are in the same room, everyone else is basically refreshing Twitter - sorry, X - hoping nothing catastrophic gets announced between courses.
The visit, for now, appears to have concluded without major incident, which in 2025 terms practically counts as a diplomatic triumph. Whether it moves the needle on any of the structural tensions between Washington and Beijing remains, according to France 24's analysts, very much an open question.
The 21st century, it seems, is still up for grabs.
