Preliminary

The first US-Central meeting in Busan, South Korea, finally came to an end. Although it was only an hour and forty minutes of closed-door conversation, it touched the nerves of the whole world. The global market holds its breath and the diplomatic circle is watching closely. As we all know, this is not only a diplomatic event, but a match between power and layout.

China holds bargaining chips in its hands, and this game has already set the tone

This summit in Busan seemed to be a temporary arrangement, but in fact there was a long time. In the past few months, China has been hiring in the fields of trade, energy, technology, supply chain, and so on, putting its bottom line up. Trump although he wants to play a "beautiful battle" on the international stage while he wants to re-enter the main White House momentum, but faced with a fully prepared China, there is hardly much space.

Let's look at trade first. Over the years, the United States has been trying to contain China through trade means, doing almost everything from imposing tariffs to setting up technical barriers. But facts have proved that this method harms 1,000 enemies and 800 self-harm. China is very rhythmic in its response, especially on the soybean issue, and it plays cleanly and cleanly.
China has not imported U.S. soybeans, but has chosen the ¡°buy but not buy¡± gesture. Over the past few years, China has intended to adjust the import structure, shift to Brazil, Argentina and other South American countries, to establish a stable supply system. By September this year, the U.S. soybeans fall harvest season, China directly reduced imports from the U.S. to zero. This move seems calm, and the actual destruction force is huge ¨C the pressure of U.S. farmers and agricultural states immediately passed to the White House.

More importantly, China is able to do so because the alternatives are laid out in advance. South American soybean ships one by one arrive at Chinese ports, domestic market supply and demand stable, and prices are not raised. In other words, China has long been prepared to still operate smoothly without American soybeans. This strategic preparation is not formed overnight. It is because the foundation is solid, China can cope with change in this negotiation.

U.S. military industry, high-end manufacturing, chip fields, are inseparable from China's rare earth. China in this field layout for decades, not only to master resources, but also technology and refining capabilities. In April this year, the United States announced the imposition of so-called "peer-to-peer tariffs" on Chinese goods, China immediately introduced export control of some medium-heavy rare earth products, and in early October further expand the scope, even extended to technology exports.
This step can be described as "drastic salary from the bottom of the pot". Of course, the United States is not to be outdone. While releasing a 100% tariff threat, it rushed to Australia and Japan to sign the so-called rare earth cooperation agreement. But laymen watch the excitement, but experts know that raw materials alone are useless, and without processing and purification capabilities, rare earths are wasteland. No matter how much money the United States invests, it will take at least five years to build a complete supply chain from scratch, and it may take ten years for real mass production. The question is, can America afford to wait? Can military orders be stopped? Can high-tech companies rest? Obviously not.
Therefore, in this contest around rare earths, China firmly takes the initiative, and the United States can only be forced to make concessions.

In recent years, the United States has frequently emphasized "strategic competition", while China has been making "strategic preparations." The difference between the two is that the former depends on mouth, while the latter depends on action. The direction of the Sino-US game has actually been doomed from this moment on.

The atmosphere at the meeting eased, but the lead was always in the hands of China

The Busan meeting was arranged in the VIP building of Jinhai International Airport. The form was not grand, but the symbolic significance was extremely strong. This is the first face-to-face meeting between the heads of state of China and the United States after Trump returned to the White House, and it is also a key contact for the repositioning of Sino-US relations.
Judging from the picture, both sides are smiling and the atmosphere is not tense. Trump personally greeted you at the airport and boasted to the media, "It's nice to see you again, and I'm sure our meeting will be very successful." Then he added, "He is a very tough negotiator." This sentence actually revealed the true mind-Trump knew he was facing a difficult opponent.

After the talks, several times emphasized the overall stability of the Sino-U.S. relationship, and pointed out that "discrepancies are objectively present", but "competition should not lead to confrontation".
The meeting lasted 1 hour and 40 minutes and was attended by six senior officials from each side. The US team is mainly composed of Secretary of State, Treasury, and Commerce, while the Chinese team is jointly attended by multiple departments including economy, diplomacy, and security. It can be said that this is an all-round and systematic game.

It is worth noting that after the meeting, Trump was first interviewed on the "Air Force One" and first announced the outcome of some negotiations, including rare earth and soybeans and other topics. He said "all problems have been resolved", but did not give details. In fact, this is the typical "posture diplomacy" - to listen to the domestic, in order to stabilize the public opinion. The truth is that the United States has not been able to get substantial concessions, but only temporarily avoided new conflicts. China here hasined the usual stability, has not robbed a statement, only stressed that "the two sides have reached a consensus in the fields of economy, science and technology, humanities and so on".

The results are clear, the world is relieved, and China is becoming more and more stable

After the meeting, the outside world reacted quickly.The international markets recovered from a brief fluctuation, and the world¡¯s major media generally described the current atmosphere with a ¡°release of breath¡±.The reason is simple ¨C the meeting avoided further escalation of trade friction and also kept the global industrial chain temporarily free from turmoil.
For the United States, this meeting is a "buffer"; for China, it is a "stabilization". More importantly, the outside world finally saw through one fact: Who really dominates the pace of China-US relations.

During this negotiation, China did not rush for success or be led away by emotions, but spoke with facts and strength. Whether it is the fine-tuning of soybean purchases or the precise control of rare earth export policies, the United States must admit the reality that China has a heavier bargaining chip.
Although Trump announced that he would visit China in April next year and invited China to visit the United States later, this is just a diplomatic courtesy. The real significance is that the United States has finally realized that to maintain stability, it must cooperate with China.

Looking globally, the meeting reassured many countries.Europe is concerned that the global supply chain will be torn apart, Japan and South Korea are concerned that the regional situation will worsen, and ASEAN countries are more hopeful that the US will not bring competition to the doorstep.
And the root of all this is that China is stable. Whether in the face of provocation, pressure or negotiation, China hasined strategic patience.

From a larger perspective, the meeting is like a mirror.It shows the world that short-term hardness is not equal to long-term advantage, temporary action is more than system preparation.China¡¯s years of patience, resilience and predictability are transforming into a new international influence.

From this meeting to the future: win in preparation, win in determination

The Busan meeting was just a node, but revealed a long-term trend.The competition between China and the United States will not end because of one meeting, but the direction is already clear: the "high-pressure route" of the United States is not going, and China's "stable control strategy" is coming into effect.
In the past, the United States has always used sanctions, blockades, and pressure to respond to challenges; China chooses to use industrial upgrading, independent innovation and diversified cooperation to deal with risks. Today's results are in front of us-China has alternatives, friends and bargaining chips; The United States can only be forced to return to the negotiating table.

This tells the world a truth: in the game of great powers, the real victory is never won by a negotiation, but by time, patience and preparation. It is no accident that China can gain the upper hand in the Busan meeting, but the necessity of strategic accumulation.

There is still a long way to go in the future.There are deeper issues between China and the United States, such as chips, energy, science and technology.But no matter what happens next, this Busan meeting has proved that China will not be threatened or scared.

The greatest significance of this meeting lies not in who gave in, but in who can control the rhythm better. China has used decades of layout to gain today's confidence, and has also allowed the world to see a stable and rational Eastern power.