In Beijing the first law of summitry is to make sure the world leader on the other side of the table understands that he is the supplicant, especially if that is not the case. When Richard Nixon made his famous journey to meet Mao Zedong in 1972, China was in a terribly weakened condition and most vulnerable to the military might of the Soviet Union. But Nixon, with Henry Kissinger leading the way, went hat in hand, grateful for just an audience with one of the great tyrants of the 20th century.
So as you read the stories that have emerged...
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