Trump is set to arrive in Beijing at the end of March following the ​U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a risky Caracas raid in January and the U.S.-Israeli air war that on Saturday killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the former ‌leaders of two countries that have been major oil suppliers for China.

The Reuters Inside Track newsletter is your essential guide to the biggest events in global sport. Sign up here.


It is far from clear how that meeting, which the Trump administration has said will focus on trade, will play out, or indeed whether it will even go ahead.

Just last week, it appeared Trump would go to Beijing in a weakened position following a U.S. Supreme Court decision invalidating many of his tariffs. But now it is Xi who may be off-balance and struggling to mount a forceful response to ​the biggest U.S. military operation since the Iraq war.

While Beijing has condemned the U.S.-led operations as "unacceptable" and called for restraint, its measured response shows both its limited ability to influence U.S. ​military action and the transactional nature of its diplomatic partnerships, experts say.



China is "proving to be a feckless friend for its authoritarian allies," Nicholas Burns, the former ⁠U.S. ambassador to Beijing under President Joe Biden, said on X.

Xi now faces the awkward prospect of feting Trump on the world stage, or backing out of the proposed March 31 to April 2 ​meeting. Beijing has yet to confirm the summit dates.

Should Xi decide to proceed, he may do so betting that in the long run it is Washington that will be diminished if it becomes entangled in ​a drawn-out Middle East conflict.

Trump has said the operation against Iran could run for about four weeks, which would bring it close to the eve of the China trip.

China's embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment on whether the Iran situation had changed plans to host Trump. Asked about the implications of the Iran strikes on talks with Xi, a White House official said Trump was "taking decisive action to eliminate major national security threats," but did ​not mention China.