S2E75: Why Beijing now sets the agenda for US-China ties

Published on 12 Jun 2026

Can Trump and Xi’s new ‘constructive’ framework bring stability to the US-China dynamic?

Synopsis: The Straits Times’ senior columnist Ravi Velloor distils 45 years of experience covering the Asian continent, with expert guests.

In this episode, host Ravi Velloor speaks with Wang Xiangwei, the eminent Hongkong-based China scholar and former editor-in-chief of South China Morning Post.

Wang, who is soon heading to the Harvard Kennedy School of Government as a Senior Visiting Fellow, offers a Chinese perspective on the changing dynamics of the US-China relationship, with Beijing now treated as a near-peer by Washington, and increasingly able to set the agenda.

US President Donald Trump, he says, is the most China-friendly person in his Cabinet and the days when even Chinese garlic was treated as a national security risk are long over.

In an odd way, China does not wish to see the US retrench from Asia entirely.

Highlights (click/tap above):

1:26 How things have changed in US-China ties

5:20 ‘G-2’ is in place now, and China a peer equal

8:55 Goodbye, Indo-Pacific

13:20 Up ahead, long period of stability

16:17 For the first time, China sets the agenda

20:36 Boards of trade, investment

26:22 Surprise, Surprise…China wants US to stay in Asia!

Read Ravi's columns: https://str.sg/3xRP

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Host: Ravi Velloor (velloor@sph.com.sg)