As Chinese President Xi Jinping prepares to visit Washington later this month, a US congressional hearing has placed Tibet and China’s broader human-rights record directly into the conversation surrounding his visit.
“Our trade deficit with China is now €1 billion a day. It has reached a tipping point,” von der Leyen said in her 2026 State of the Union address to the European Parliament on September 16.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Xi agreed that India and China should approach their relationship from a “strategic and long term perspective” and ensure that “differences should not become disputes.”
New Delhi must remain wary of attempts to separate trade from border security, use BRICS solidarity to suppress legitimate Indian concerns or present temporary tactical accommodation as permanent strategic friendship.