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Xi Jinping tests Donald Trump with 'Thucydides Trap'
Times of India ^ | September 24, 2026 | Chidanand Rajghatta Read more at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/134467004.cms?utm_

Posted on 09/24/2026 11:10:13 AM PDT by rexthecat

Speaking at the White House welcome ceremony with President Trump sitting behind him, Xi said the US and China should pursue cooperation rather than confrontation and argued that China's rise need not come at America's expense.

(Excerpt) Read more at timesofindia.indiatimes.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: china; chinatruth; thucydides; thucydidestrap; trap
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I'm not a fan of Trump meeting Xi at the airport.
1 posted on 09/24/2026 11:10:13 AM PDT by rexthecat
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To: rexthecat

Communists always lie. Of course China’s rise would come at America’s expense.


2 posted on 09/24/2026 11:13:58 AM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: rexthecat
Xi said that the two countries should cooperate with each other ... while China attempts to buy control of the Panama Canal,

and China buys land in the U.S.,

and China tariffs and import restricts American goods all while trying to bypass reciprocal tariffs by sending goods through Canada,

and Chna steals hundreds of billion$ in IP, etc.

3 posted on 09/24/2026 11:16:51 AM PDT by Tell It Right (1 Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
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To: rexthecat

This seems to be a common theme in discussing USA - China relations: https://freerepublic.com/focus/search?m=all;o=time;q=quick;s=Thucydides


4 posted on 09/24/2026 11:19:44 AM PDT by posterchild
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To: rexthecat

This seems to be a common theme in discussing USA - China relations: https://freerepublic.com/focus/search?m=all;o=time;q=quick;s=Thucydides


5 posted on 09/24/2026 11:19:46 AM PDT by posterchild
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To: rexthecat
China still has a lot of internal pressure points. China under the CCP isn't as monolithic as coventional wisdom might imply.

Xi bringing up the Thucydides Trap again is a backhanded comment. I'm sure it hasn't gone unnoticed.

6 posted on 09/24/2026 11:25:12 AM PDT by Tench_Coxe (The woke were surprised by the reaction to the Bud Light fiasco. May there be many more surprises)
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To: rexthecat

Well China is definitely challenging us for the top spot and frankly I think they will eventually come out on top. I got a feeling the average IQ in the US has slipped down several points because of all the illegals we’ve let in. My buddy keeps pressing me to visit China with him because he wants to ride their bullet train. They do have some impressive accomplishments but they also have their own issue too.


7 posted on 09/24/2026 11:28:57 AM PDT by jimwatx (o)
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To: rexthecat

I hope Trump doesn’t really like this guy.


8 posted on 09/24/2026 11:29:22 AM PDT by MV=PY (The Magic Question: Who's paying for it?)
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To: rexthecat

Xi needs cooperation with the US for innovation, but wants it all on China’s terms, which would obviously have to be worked out and whatever agreements somehow enforced. There is also a mindset in China that believes that a genetic Caucasian-Asian mix is beneficial for them in the long run. But only Whites with degrees that China likes...

Language is another issue. They know, but won’t admit, that English is the way to go, not that mono-syllabic language of sounds and pictures they’ve been speaking and writing for thousands of years. It’s too ambiguous. They know they can’t succeed with it in the long term over the succinctness and simplicity of letters compared to their symbols. And English is universal. The Koreans have tried somewhat with their written language over Chinese but still see Chinese as a language of aristocrats that they look up to.


9 posted on 09/24/2026 11:42:21 AM PDT by mikey_hates_everything
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To: rexthecat

‘Thucydides Trap’

Try saying that three time very fast.


10 posted on 09/24/2026 11:54:50 AM PDT by Magnum44 (...against all enemies, foreign and domestic... )
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To: jimwatx
...China is definitely challenging us for the top spot and frankly I think they will eventually come out on top.

An effective alternative for China is too just hold on rather than try to outperform us.

There is the argument that China believes it can escape the Thucydides Trap because the United States will weaken internally before a confrontation becomes inevitable.

In that regard, it will do everything it can to weaken our institutions and culture.

See for example, what has happened to our judiciaries, our state governments and our federal government and our election processes under Obama-Biden.

11 posted on 09/24/2026 12:21:17 PM PDT by frog in a pot
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To: rexthecat

What is the trap?

Not interested in clicking through to the Times of India.


12 posted on 09/24/2026 12:30:06 PM PDT by one guy in new jersey
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To: rexthecat

Stupidest thing of all time.

It’s funny that the deep state foreign policy charlatans were all on about Thuycides Trap a few years ago.

Chicoms always usurp things in a hamfisted way.

But they know taking words from these “experts” works to manipulate them.


13 posted on 09/24/2026 12:30:43 PM PDT by ifinnegan (Democrats kill babies and harvest their organs to sell)
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To: rexthecat

Like a gracious host meeting a guest at the door, the protocol of a state visit encourages a head of state to meet a visiting head of state on their entry to the country.


14 posted on 09/24/2026 12:32:07 PM PDT by Rockingham
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To: rexthecat

“I’m not a fan of Trump meeting Xi at the airport.”
____________________________________________________________

Xi is in DC at Trump’s invitation. It would break diplomatic protocol, in addition to being tacky, for Trump to treat him as less than an equal.


15 posted on 09/24/2026 1:09:36 PM PDT by Bob Wills is still the king (Wake up and smell the coffee!)
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To: Magnum44
A “Thucydides Trap” leading to a catastrophic war is a plausible outcome but is not an iron law of history. China and the United States are not the Athens and Sparta of the Peloponnesian War. Most of all, Trump and MAGA are determined that the Unites States will not be a declining power but will continue its global dominance and will rise to a new level of greatness.
16 posted on 09/24/2026 1:13:23 PM PDT by Rockingham
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To: one guy in new jersey

The Thucydides Trap is a political theory stating that when a rising power threatens to displace an established ruling power, the resulting fear and tension often make violent conflict or war likely


17 posted on 09/24/2026 1:13:40 PM PDT by buckalfa (More chaos and disruption please)
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To: jimwatx
... visit China with him because he wants to ride their bullet train. They do have some impressive accomplishments...

When built, Hitler's Reichsautobahn was a technological marvel, as no other country had attempted to construct a highway system of such scale and ambition at that time. It served as a model for future highway systems in other countries, showcasing advanced logistics and construction techniques that were not yet common elsewhere.


18 posted on 09/24/2026 1:18:26 PM PDT by JesusIsLord
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To: frog in a pot

“An effective alternative for China is too just hold on rather than try to outperform us.

There is the argument that China believes it can escape the Thucydides Trap because the United States will weaken internally before a confrontation becomes inevitable.”
____________________________________________________________

There’s an interesting analysis of the Thucydides Trap and its application to the US and China here:

https://inss.ndu.edu/Media/News/Article/1866042/thucydides-other-traps-the-united-states-china-and-the-prospect-of-inevitable-w/


19 posted on 09/24/2026 1:30:34 PM PDT by Bob Wills is still the king (Wake up and smell the coffee!)
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To: Tell It Right

China sure cooperated with the U.S. on the Covide crises, oh they didn’t?


20 posted on 09/24/2026 2:24:32 PM PDT by carcraft (Pray for our Country)
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