US-China Summit May Be a Nothingburger. Good.

Expectations are running high for the US-China summit in Beijing next week, and no doubt the two sides have much to talk about. For the White House, though, the goal should be simple enough: Don’t make matters worse.

There will be plenty on the agenda for the world’s two leading powers. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has disrupted China’s energy imports, while the government is pushing back against US sanctions on Chinese oil refiners. A truce restoring the flow of rare-earth metals and magnets to US companies could collapse at any time. Virtually none of the Chinese trade practices the White House has cited as justification for imposing tariffs — from unfair subsidies to economic espionage — has been seriously addressed. Japan, Taiwan and other US partners in the region continue to suffer Chinese harassment and bullying. The mainland is racing to expand its nuclear, missile and drone arsenals, even as its artificial intelligence capabilities are thought to trail America’s by only a few months.