In context

There was, as expected, no agreement on the key issue of Taiwan. Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping told President Reagan the US “should not interfere” in the process of reunifying China.

The Sino-american relationship is widely seen as one of the most important bilateral relationships in the world, and has gone through many ups and downs.

Perhaps the lowest point was the Chinese army’s brutal suppression of student democracy protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Us-china relations were frozen for almost 10 years.

There have also been several difficult incidents, such as the Nato bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in 1999, and the collision of a US spy plane with a Chinese jet in 2001. Washington continues to supply Taiwan with arms, and there is still little progress towards addressing persistent criticisms of China’s human rights record.

But China’s campaign for wider global acceptance resulted in its membership of the World Trade Organisation in 2001. Diplomacy between the two countries still remains fraught with difficulties, and looks set to remain a delicate balancing act for the foreseeable future.