This month, a series of summits was held in East Asia. The first summit was between the two superpowers: the United States and China. A few days later, summits between Korea and Japan, and then between Russia and China, followed. As the current international order undergoes significant geopolitical shifts, these summits have conveyed the participating countries’ overlapping and divergent strategic calculations. The summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping was held in the context of fluctuations in the geopolitical balance between the two nations. After decades of leading the international order as the post-Cold War superpower, the United States has struggled with domestic political polarization, tensions with traditional allies and prolonged conflicts with adversarial regimes such as Iran. China, despite its own internal socioeconomic challenges, has appeared relatively better positioned when it comes to geopolitical bargaining. Outwardly, the summit displayed a conciliatory affirmation of “constructive strategic stability” between the two super
