I T IS THE start of the most important week of diplomacy for Donald Trump since he returned to office. A meeting between the American president and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, is planned for October 30th and comes after Mr Trump’s whistlestop tour of many of his country’s most important Asian allies.

Bessent said Trump would likely visit Xi in Beijing early next year ahead of the Lunar New Year, and a meeting in Washington would likely happen ahead of Xi’s trip to the U.S.

Xi Jinping seems to believe that only his continued rule can secure China’s rise. But as he ages, choosing a successor will become riskier and more difficult.

Ahead of Trump’s visit next week, China’s President Xi has launched a major crackdown on the country’s Christians, which number in the tens of millions. Earlier this month, Beijing arrested a prominent underground church pastor and more than 20 other clergy and parishioners.

"Yet Xi’s latest trade war tactic may be tipping the geostrategic balance back toward the US as companies around the world think better of doing business in China generally."

After President Xi Jinping ousted a group of top generals whose careers overlapped for decades, state media accused them of “severely undermining” the Communist Party’s highest echelons of authority.

Nearly one in six officials who had Central Committee seats were absent from a major conclave, many of them now disgraced.

The recent surge in demonstrations by far-right groups presents a challenge for the South Korean government, as it prepares to host both Xi Jinping, the leader of China, and President Trump.