The recent summit between Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump introduced the concept of 'strategic stability' to guide US-China relations, signaling an effort to stabilize the difficult bilateral relationship.

One formulation emerging from the summit between President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump in Beijing merits particular attention: the reference in China’s official readout to a “constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability” that should guide ties “over the next three years and beyond”. The wording is noteworthy, and not simply because it points to an effort to stabilise a difficult relationship in the short term. It suggests a broader attempt to place the management of...