A visit from a US leader is no longer something to boast about.
Donald Trump arrived in Beijing this week to a China that no longer looks to America with wonder or deference, but with the measured confidence of a nation that believes history has already rendered its verdict. Where his 2017 visit carried the novelty of an unconventional leader meeting a rising power, this return finds ordinary Chinese citizens less curious about Washington's intentions and more certain of their own country's trajectory. The encounter between two great powers is no longer a negotiation between an established order and an aspiring one — it is something more unsettled, more equal, and perhaps more dangerous.
- Trump's unpredictability — from alleged foreign interventions to domestic turbulence — has hardened Chinese public opinion, transforming him from an entertaining curiosity into a figure seen as genuinely threatening to Chinese interests.
- Beijing's streets and social media reveal a quiet but firm consensus: American presidents ultimately bend to the reality of China's existence, and this visit is unlikely to be different.
- The choreography of state power was unmistakable — Tiananmen Square cleared of citizens, schoolchildren deployed in formation, the Temple of Heaven shuttered — as Xi's government worked to control every frame of the encounter.
- Taiwan remains the sharpest edge of the meeting, with Chinese citizens and officials alike watching to see whether Trump will soften American support for the island's self-governing status.
- Even those who welcomed Trump's willingness to come to Beijing expressed doubt that any agreement would hold, with social media users noting that his positions can shift between morning and afternoon.
Near Beijing's ancient Drum and Bell towers, a noodle restaurant once displayed photographs of Joe Biden from his 2011 visit — a moment Chinese media celebrated as "noodle diplomacy." When the restaurant was redecorated, the photographs came down. An American leader's presence no longer seemed worth commemorating.
Donald Trump arrived in Beijing on Wednesday to a country transformed since his 2017 state visit. China's economy is under strain and wage growth has slowed, yet what has expanded in its place is a confident nationalism, nourished by state messaging and by the spectacle of American political disorder. That Trump — a leader whose foreign policy actions have struck many Chinese as reckless — could be elected twice only deepened the perception that America is a destabilizing force rather than a reliable one.
On the streets, the mood was pragmatic rather than hostile. Liu Cheng, a 47-year-old eating at a local restaurant, voiced a common sentiment: whoever occupies the White House, the reality of China's existence cannot be ignored. The deeper problem, in his view, was that America had never truly accepted China's rise — and that acceptance might still take a decade to arrive. A taxi driver named Liu Chunlei identified Taiwan as the central tension, while still welcoming the visit as a sign that Trump's posture was not purely adversarial.
The machinery of the state shaped every detail of the reception. The Temple of Heaven — closed to the public, heavy with historical resonance — recalled Kissinger's secret 1971 visit that first opened diplomatic relations. On Tiananmen Square, cannons fired, military bands played, and hundreds of primary school children in bright clothing offered a choreographed welcome as Xi and Trump walked past a cleared and controlled space.
Yet beneath the pageantry, skepticism ran deep. On Weibo, one user captured a widespread doubt: there was little point negotiating with a man who might reverse his positions by afternoon. The visit arrives at a moment when the fundamental asymmetry between the two powers has shifted. China no longer needs to prove itself. In the eyes of many of its citizens, it is America that is still struggling to accept what has already come to pass.
A small noodle restaurant near Beijing's ancient Drum and Bell towers once kept photographs of Joe Biden on its walls. When the American vice-president ate there in 2011, the visit became a minor sensation—Chinese media celebrated his "noodle diplomacy," the bowl of zhajiang mian he ordered, the whole affair as a sign of something. But when the restaurant was redecorated a few years later, those photographs came down. A visit from an American leader no longer seemed worth preserving.
Donald Trump arrived in Beijing on Wednesday to a country that has changed fundamentally since his last state visit in 2017. China's economy is struggling, wage growth has slowed to less than 2 percent in real terms across the capital, yet something else has grown in its place: a confident, assertive nationalism, fed by state messaging and by what ordinary Chinese see as the accelerating chaos of American politics. That Trump himself—unpredictable, unconventional, a man who has kidnapped a Venezuelan president and launched a war with Iran—could be elected to lead the United States only reinforced the view that America is a country in decline, a troublemaker rather than a stabilizing force.
At the noodle restaurant on Wednesday, Liu Cheng, 47, sat eating steamed baozi and tofu skin salad. He offered a view common among people on Beijing's streets: whoever sits in the White House, it amounts to much the same thing for ordinary Chinese. "Before they take office, US presidents may say very extreme things, but once they are in office, they have no choice but to face the reality of China's existence," he said. The real problem, in his view, was that America had never accepted China's rise. That acceptance, he thought, might take another decade.
Trump has lost the novelty he once possessed in China. Where he was once regarded as an entertainer, a figure of curiosity, he is now seen as something more dangerous: a leader whose actions could genuinely threaten Chinese interests. This shift in perception matters more than any diplomatic courtesy. Liu Chunlei, a 36-year-old taxi driver, identified the core tension: Taiwan. China claims the island as its own territory, and the coming meetings between Xi and Trump are expected to center on whether the American president will reduce support for Taiwan's self-governing status. Still, Chunlei welcomed Trump's willingness to come to Beijing. "It will definitely help ease China-US relations a little," he said. "It shows that his attitude towards China is not hostile."
The machinery of state was visible everywhere. Security had been heightened across the capital. The Temple of Heaven, a Ming dynasty religious complex dating to the 15th century and a site heavy with historical weight—Henry Kissinger had visited it on his secret 1971 trip, the journey that opened diplomatic relations between the two countries—was closed to the public. On Thursday morning, Xi welcomed Trump outside the Great Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square. Cannons fired a salute. A military band played both national anthems. The square itself had been cleared of ordinary citizens, left only to officials, press, and soldiers who marched in formation after Trump's arrival. The hall's interior was a display of state power: red carpet, vast marble floors, enormous American and Chinese flags hung by uniformed personnel. Hundreds of primary school children in bright clothing were positioned to offer a choreographed welcome, the girls waving flowers, the boys holding flags, all of it orchestrated as the two leaders walked past.
A Chinese scholar in Beijing suggested that Trump wanted to position himself as Kissinger had been positioned—as a visionary reshaping the relationship between superpowers. But skepticism ran deeper than official ceremony could reach. On Weibo, China's social media platform, one user captured a widespread doubt: "There's no point discussing anything with Trump. He'll change his mind once he gets back. What he says in the morning can also change by the afternoon." The visit, for all its pageantry and symbolic weight, arrives in a moment when the fundamental asymmetry has shifted. China no longer needs to prove itself to America. America, in the eyes of many Chinese, is the one struggling to accept what has already happened.
Notable Quotes
Before they take office, US presidents may say very extreme things, but once they are in office, they have no choice but to face the reality of China's existence.— Liu Cheng, 47, Beijing resident
There's no point discussing anything with Trump. He'll change his mind once he gets back. What he says in the morning can also change by the afternoon.— Weibo user, on Chinese social media
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does it matter that Biden's photograph came down from that restaurant wall?
It's the clearest sign that American leadership has stopped being something to celebrate in China. A decade ago, a US vice-president visiting a noodle shop was newsworthy, charming, worth remembering. Now it's just... ordinary. That shift in how China sees America—from interesting to irrelevant, or worse, threatening—is the real story underneath the ceremony.
But Trump is there now, meeting with Xi. Doesn't that suggest the relationship still matters?
It matters, but not in the way it once did. Trump is there because China is confident enough not to need him, and because he's unpredictable enough that China wants to manage him. The visit is less about building something new and more about managing a rival that China no longer fears in the same way.
The taxi driver said Trump's visit would ease tensions. Do ordinary Chinese actually believe that?
Some do, like that driver. But the Weibo comment—about Trump changing his mind by afternoon—captures something deeper. There's a fatalism there. Chinese people have watched American presidents make promises and break them. They've watched Trump specifically do chaotic things. They're not hopeful so much as resigned to the fact that America will do what America does.
What about Taiwan? That seemed to be the real pressure point.
It is. That's where the confidence and the skepticism meet. China believes it's strong enough now to push the US on Taiwan, to demand that America reduce its support for the island. But they also know Trump is unpredictable. He might agree to something in Beijing and reverse it in Washington. That's why the skepticism runs so deep.
The security, the schoolchildren, the cannons—was all that theater necessary?
It was necessary for China's domestic audience, not for Trump. It was a way of saying: we are in control of this narrative, we are the hosts, we are the power here. That's a different message than the one being sent nine years ago.