The State of U.S.-China Relations Ahead of the Trump-Xi Summit: A Conversation with Demetri Sevastopulo and Xiangwei Wang

In this episode, Demetri Sevastopulo and Xiangwei Wang join the ChinaPower Podcast to discuss the current state of U.S.-China relations and what to watch for at the Trump-Xi summit in Washington, D.C. Demetri provides the inside scoop as one of very few people to interview US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent after his meeting with Chinese vice-premier He Lifeng ahead of the summit. Xiangwei provides his expert take on Xi Jinping's thinking as former editor-in-chief for the South China Morning Post. They examine efforts to stabilize U.S.-China relations and assess how issues ranging from AI and trade to Taiwan and Iran could shape the leaders' discussions and the future trajectory of the relationship. Demetri Sevastopulo is a U.S.-China correspondent at Financial Times. Xiangwei Wang is a senior visiting scholar at Harvard and former editor-in-chief of the South China Morning Post. Note: This episode was recorded on September 22, 2026, prior to the Trump-Xi summit.