世界媒体，特别是西方媒体，在美国总统特朗普访问北京期间，在版面与社交平台上给予了特朗普、随行的白宫团队以及华尔街最具代表的企业领袖，大量内容与图片报导。
然而，大多数报导与评论所缺失的是一种关键性的追问：为何这一轮——或许是一次重大“重置”的中美关系调整，在特朗普任内发生？以及这将把世界秩序引向何方？
首先，几乎可以确定的是，这场可能是特朗普与习近平今年四次会晤中的第一次，正在把中国从激烈的战略竞争者，转向一种更稳定、以交易为导向、甚至可能是特朗普所称的“美好”伙伴关系；而在美国之前政府的定义中，中国则是美国“步步紧逼挑战者”，也是最重要的“战略竞争对手”。
这一转变，并非源于特朗普对中国领导人所多次表达的尊重与友谊，也并非出于习近平对特朗普的某种相互欣赏。而是双方冷静、客观地认识到彼此持久的优势和弱点的结果。
从美方已有报告来看，最显著的地缘政治转向体现在其2025年《国家安全战略》（NSS）之中。该文件不再将中国描绘为美国最主要的地缘政治威胁，而是强调经济互惠，并极少使用以往报告中那种明显对抗性的语言。
经济韧性：中国如何改变游戏规则
2025年，特朗普发动了全面的“解放日”关税战，对中国的关税最高推至145%，中国则以125%的报复性关税回应。然而，中国的战略韧性重塑了整体局势：北京限制稀土出口，直接冲击美国国防与高科技产业。
与此同时，尽管美国关税使中国对美出口下降16.9%，但中国成功将出口转向东南亚、非洲与拉丁美洲，使总体出口反而增长7.1%。这一结果显示，在相互依存的结构中，美国比一般贸易统计数据所呈现的更为脆弱，而中国则更具韧性。
因此，美方政策也被迫从全面关税，转向更聚焦的“定向遏制”策略，集中在晶片、关键矿产与人工智能等关键领域。
军事力量：华盛顿面对现实
与此同时，五角大厦2025年《中国军力报告》指出，中国“历史性的军事扩张正使美国本土变得更加脆弱”。报告认为，中国不断增强的核力量、海军与网络能力，可能“直接威胁美国安全”。
值得注意的是，该报告语气异常缓和，甚至指出在特朗普领导下，双边关系达到“多年来最佳水平”。军事专家认为，这种语调转变反映出美国防务机构对中国战略与军事影响力扩张的现实承认。
战略再调整：“美国堡垒”转向
特朗普政府2025年的《国家安全战略》显示出美国根本性的收缩趋势。相较于全球警察角色与“民主使命”的推进，美国开始转向“美国保垒”战略——即强化西半球安全、重建国内工业基础，并重新校准中美经济关系。
这战略将经济关系视为核心战场，明确呼吁与北京建立“互利的经济关系”，以及“以非敏感领域为重点的平衡贸易”。这种务实路线为中美合作留下空间，也似乎构成两国关系“新篇章”，但尚未进入新时代的基础。
从贸易战到战略稳定
到2025年底，激烈的贸易战逐步转向谈判。2025年10月的釜山习特峰会促成关税休战。这一阶段被形容为从“打对打”，转为“打与谈”，再到“谈与理解”。
部分分析人士称之为“相互保证冲击”（mutually assured disruption），即双方都认识到彼此无法脱钩，否则将造成严重自我伤害。因此达成了暂时安排，而美方在其中表现得更为妥协。
现实检验：伙伴关系与重置的边界
尽管这种乐观叙事存在，但关键现实依然是，这种战术性稳定，并不等于战略重置。特朗普主要是以“商业与交易视角”看待中国，而非战略伙伴关系。今日的让步，可能因美国国内政治的高度不确定性而在明日被推翻。此外，华盛顿内部深层、制度化的反中共识并未消失，反之更强大，只是暂时处于潜伏状态。
从北京角度看，这使得任何深层“重大交易”几乎不可能实现。
本质上，两国关系并未走向建立在互信与情感基础上的“美好伙伴关系”，而是走向一种更受管理、以交易为主、可能较为稳定的共存状态——其驱动力来自一种清醒认知，即双方都无法轻易击败对方，而彼此命运已经深度交织。
特朗普的“让美国再次伟大”外交政策，并不旨在将世界推回新冷战的二元格局，因为中国与俄罗斯的经济与军事实力已不容忽视。同时，特朗普也不支持旧有的“规则型国际秩序”，因为在该体系中，美国盟友与世界其他国家被指责“占美国便宜”。“让美国再次伟大”与“美国堡垒”结合，正在推动一种三极化的格局，即非重叠的势力范围体系，以延缓美国相对衰退。
在习特会上，面向全球直播的开场发言中，习近平强调，作为世界两大经济体的领导人，他与美国总统肩负著引领全球稳定、回应“时代根本问题”的历史责任。习近平直接对特朗普表示，中美必须“共同承担大国责任”，以应对复杂的全球挑战并维护世界和平。如果这一进程成功，或许将标志著一个比当前正被抛弃的旧秩序更美好世界秩序的开端。
林德宜《特朗普为何想与中国建立“美好伙伴关系”》原文：Why Trump Wants A Beautiful Partnership With China
World media, especially Western, following President DonaldTrump, his White House entourage and leaders of Wall Street's most prominent American companies during his visit to Beijing have flooded their pages and posts with content and images.
What is missing from most coverage and commentary is a critical examination of why this reset - perhaps a great reset - in US-China relations under Trump is taking place, and where this will take the world order towards.
Firstly, there is little doubt that the trajectory of this, the first of possibly four meetings between Trump and Xi this year, is shifting the United States from intense strategic competition toward a more stable, transactional, and possibly "beautiful" partnership with what Trump's predecessor administration had identified as America’s pacing challenger, and most consequential "strategic competitor”.
This is not due to the great respect and friendship that Trump has repeatedly professed in his relationship with China's President. Neither does this appear to be due to any mutual admiration that Xi has for Trump. Rather it is an outcome of the hard-nosed, reciprocal recognition of each other's enduring strengths and vulnerabilities.
A review of available reports from the American side suggests that the most notable shift in its geopolitics has been noted in its 2025 National Security Strategy (NSS). This document moved away from depicting China as America's most significant geopolitical threat. Instead it emphasised economic reciprocity and rarely used the overtly confrontational language that characterized previous reports.
Economic Resilience: How China Changed the Game
In 2025, Trump launched a sweeping "Liberation Day" tariff campaign, pushing US tariffs on Chinese goods as high as 145% while China retaliated with 125% duties. However, China's strategic resilience reshaped the equation: Beijing restricted rare earth exports, directly impacting US defense and high-tech industries.
Meanwhile, whilst US tariffs cut Chinese exports to America by 16.9%, China was able to boost shipments to Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America, resulting in a net 7.1% increase in the country's total exports. This outcome revealed that the US is more vulnerable and China more resilient in the interdependence dynamic than conventional trade statistics suggest. As a result, the administration has had to move from blanket tariffs to a more focused strategy of "targeted containment," prioritizing key sectors like chips, critical minerals and artificial intelligence.
Military Power: Washington Faces Reality
Simultaneously, the Pentagon's 2025 China Military Power Report concluded that China's "historic military buildup is making the US homeland increasingly vulnerable". The assessment noted China possesses growing nuclear, naval, and cyber capabilities that could "directly threaten US security". Unusually, the report adopted a markedly conciliatory tone, stating that under President Trump, bilateral relations are at "the best level in years". Military experts suggest this shift reflects a recognition among US defense officials about China's expanding strategic and military reach.
Strategic Recalibration: A "Fortress America" Pivot
The Trump administration's 2025 National Security Strategy signaled a fundamental retrenchment. Instead of a global policing role and engagement in ‘democratic’ crusades, it focused on "Fortress America" - securing the Western Hemisphere, rebuilding domestic industrial bases, and recalibrating the US-China economic relationship. The NSS framed the economic relationship as the central arena, explicitly calling for "a mutually advantageous economic relationship with Beijing" and "balanced trade focused on non-sensitive factors". This pragmatic approach left space for cooperation and appears to be the foundation stone for a new page though not yet a new era in the relationship of the two countries
From Trade War to Strategic Stability
By late 2025, the intense trade war gave way to negotiation. The October 2025 Busan summit between Trump and Xi led to a tariff truce. This phase has been characterised as moving from "fight and fight" to "fight and talk," and eventually to "talks and understanding" . Some analysts term this as "mutually assured disruption", that is, a recognition that neither side could decouple without severe self-harm. Hence, a temporary settlement was reached with the US side the more conciliatory party.
The Reality Check: Partnerships And Reset
Despite this optimistic framing, critical realities remain. The tactical stabilization is not a strategic reset. Trump views China primarily through a "commercial and transactional lens" rather than the prism of strategic partnership. Concessions made today could be reversed tomorrow, especially given the ephemeral nature of US domestic politics. Moreover, a deep-seated, institutionalized anti-China consensus in Washington has not disappeared. It is as strong as ever, and for now, merely dormant.
From Beijing's perspective, this makes any far-reaching "grand bargain" highly improbable.
In essence, the relationship is not transitioning to a "beautiful partnership" based on mutual respect and affection, but to a more managed, transactional, and possibly stable coexistence - driven by the sobering realization that neither power can easily defeat the other, and that their fates are inextricably intertwined.
Trump’s MAGA in foreign policy is not aimed at returning the world to a new Cold War bipolarity given the reality of China’s and Russia’s economic and military strength. Neither does it appear to be supportive of an old rules-based global order in which America’s allies and the rest of the world have been condemned as exploiting America’s generosity and economic openness. Together MAGA and Fortress America are a push towards a tripolar system of non-overlapping spheres of influence and to arrest the U.S. decline.
In the opening day meeting speech beamed to a world wide audience, Xi emphasized that as leaders of the world's two largest economies, he and the U.S. President share a historic responsibility to guide global stability and answer the "defining questions of our time." Addressing Trump directly, Xi explicitly stated that China and the United States must "jointly shoulder our responsibility as major countries" to tackle complex global issues and ensure world peace. If successful, this may be the beginning of a better world order than the one currently being jettisoned.
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