Why Is the CCP Shifting From Rejecting to Embracing the Thucydides Trap?

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One before his departure from Beijing Capital Airport in Beijing on May 15, 2026. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Commentary

On May 14, during U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to China, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, in his opening remarks at the summit in Beijing, said: “The world has reached a new crossroads. Whether China and the U.S. can overcome the ‘Thucydides Trap’ is a question of history, a question of the world, and a question of the people.”