During his 2005 presidential visit to China, George W. Bush, an avid mountain biker, Bicycle With members of the country’s national team.
When China’s current leader, Xi Jinping, visited the United States in 2015, he received a football jersey from high school students in Tacoma, Washington, and Promise To encourage more tourism between countries.
It appears there will be few such displays of bilateral cordiality for this week’s summit between Mr Xi and President Trump in Beijing.
This reflects a sobering reality of US-China relations: as geopolitical and economic tensions have increased, soft ties – which previously persisted despite other disputes – have also weakened. Mr Trump and Mr Xi are expected to discuss contentious issues such as trade, Taiwan and the war in Iran.
For decades, displays of friendship between countries’ leaders and common people have been a staple of high-level, bilateral meetings. Although highly choreographed, they reflected real relationships. Hundreds of thousands of students traveled between the United States and China each year. American athletes and musicians tour China to cheering crowds. Chinese and American scientists worked together to promote breakthroughs in clean energy, particle physics and cancer Research.
But now the exchange of students between the two countries is decreasing. Chinese authorities have suddenly canceled the programs of foreign artists. And scientific cooperation has been tempered by concerns from both governments about sharing sensitive research.
Today, there are fewer than 2,000 American students in China – compared to 11,000 in 2019, according to US-China Education Trust, a nonprofit group in Washington. Near Peking University in Beijing – which is located on the site of a former university built by American missionaries – bars that used to be hot spots for American students now cater to a largely Chinese clientele.
“There’s no place in Peking where Americans hang out,” said Dominic Catturello, a 26-year-old international relations master’s student at the University of Massachusetts. “Because there are so few of us.”
Chinese enrollment in American universities is also falling. For years, China was the largest source of international students to the United States. But now, many prospective Chinese students have been turned away for fear of visa denials and anti-Chinese hostility. In the 2023-24 school year, India overtook China to become the top country of origin.
Mr Catturello said he also faced skepticism at home about studying in China. An acquaintance asked him why he was going to an “enemy” country.
But Mr Catturello said he had never been treated poorly in China because of his nationality. And hearing the Chinese perspective on international relations is invaluable, he said, especially given the U.S. strategic rivalry with the country.
He said, “It would really be shooting ourselves in the foot as a nation if we willingly distanced ourselves from the reality of things in another country.”
Other forms of cultural exchange have also suffered. The Philadelphia Orchestra first traveled to Beijing in 1973, becoming the first American group to perform in Communist-led China. It has visited 15 more times, including a visit by a small delegation last year. But if the group didn’t have such a long history in the country, it would be “extraordinarily difficult” to organize tours today, said Ryan Fleur, the orchestra’s president.
“In the special environment of the times, if you don’t already have an open door, it’s difficult to open it,” he said.
US government support for cultural exchange has also decreased. Even President Joseph R. Relations with China reached perhaps their lowest point in decades under Biden, with the administration emphasizing cultural diplomacy, including supporting a visit to China by the Philadelphia Orchestra. But the Trump administration has threatened to revoke visas for Chinese students and cut funding for international exchange programs.
There are recent signs that cultural ties may be beginning to strengthen once again. surveys show Attitudes toward China are improving in the United States, although still largely negative. Young Americans in particular view China more favorably, partly influenced by social media trends that highlight the country’s economic progress.
China, for its part, has relaxed visa requirements for many foreign tourists. Last month, the government invited American athletes to Beijing for an event are celebrating 55th Anniversary of “Ping Pong Diplomacy” – Visit of American ping pong players to China before diplomatic relations were restored under Richard Nixon and Mao Zedong.
Lines of Chinese applicants seeking visas to study and travel in the United States still form outside the US Embassy in Beijing.
But those applicants may also keep a close eye on the United States. Xue Jun, a visa consultant in the city of Nanjing, said many of his clients these days were motivated by a desire to escape China’s economic downturn rather than love for the United States.
“People don’t look at the United States with the same sense of mystery or fascination that they had in the ’90s, or even a few years ago,” Mr. Zou said. “I don’t think we’ll see any upward trend going forward.”
Siyi Zhao Contributed to research.
