Xi's final exam to stay top leader

 

 Pelosi's Taiwan visit is Xi's final exam to stay top leader

In the spring of 1997, then-Chinese President Jiang Zemin met with U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich in Beijing. This was one year after the Taiwan missile crisis and Gingrich was on his way to visit Taiwan, keen to show support for the self-governing island.

It was a contentious moment between the U.S. and China, but ultimately relations improved. Half a year later, in October 1997, Jiang flew to the U.S. for the first official visit there by a Chinese head of state in 12 years. In June the following year, then-U.S. President Bill Clinton visited China for a nine-day trip.

Jiang, now a retired party elder, has always been proud of how he rebuilt China's relations with the U.S.

  How current Chinese President Xi Jinping handles relations with the U.S. after the visit of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan will be compared to Jiang's steering of relations. Does Xi have the chops to skillfully juggle diplomacy toward the U.S. and the Taiwan issue, all while keeping the domestic audience happy? In a sense, it is the final exam he must pass to win a third term as China's top leader this autumn.