Episode
China's Xi woos Trump with state banquet: Taiwan on the table?
- Podcast
- The Debate
- Published
- May 14, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2707
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Summary
From the Temple of Heaven to the Forbidden City, plenty of great power pageantry was on display as the leaders of the world's two mightiest nations toasted each other at an official state banquet. The US president was flanked by the likes of Elon Musk , Tim Cook of Apple and Jensen Huang of chipmaking leader Nvidia – tech titans keen to see trade tensions smoothed over. Hardly surprising, then, that the laudatory toasts between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump were not what you might call straight talk. But behind the scenes, critics worry if instead of straight talk, it's a straight swap and a tale of two Straits: our panel reacts to Trump's softer messaging on Taiwan – separated only from the mainland by the Strait of Formosa – and ask if Washington instead wants Beijing more involved in reopening the Strait of Hormuz . China is the largest importer of Iranian oil. Whether it's Taiwan or artificial intelligence, is the course of history and global security being decided on a cocktail napkin at the Great Hall of the People? What do both countries – and leaders – have to gain? What do they have to lose? Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Daniel Whittington, Guillaume Gougeon, Margot Loizillon.