What happens when communication channels between the presidents of the two most powerful nations break down?
Credit: George Bush Presidential Library and Museum
A few months into George W. Bush’s presidency, a U.S. Navy spy plane on a surveillance mission near Hainan island collided with a Chinese fighter jet, forcing the American plane to make an emergency landing in mainland China — in turn, kicking off a diplomatic nightmare.
Following the crash, President Bush repeatedly tried to call then-Chinese leader Jiang Zemin to diffuse the situation. But after around 12 attempts and “several agonizing days,” as Bush describes in his memoir Decisio
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If Xi Jinping is becoming more preoccupied with internal politics, it could lead to a period of relative calm in China’s relations with the United States.
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