Looking for leverage: China keeps close eye on US politics after summit delay

Beijing seeks to decipher effect of Iran war on US midterms and best way to apply pressure when Trump meets Xi The White House said on Wednesday that China had agreed to postpone Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing, as war in the Middle East rages on, complicating the US president’s position at home and abroad. China has not yet commented on the delay to the highly anticipated trip, in which Trump and the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, will meet in person for the first time since October. Trump previously said he hoped to delay the trip, originally scheduled to run from 31 March to 2 April, for “five or six weeks”. The delay underlines the extent to which the war with Iran is influencing geopolitics far beyond the Middle East. Beijing is watching closely to see what the impact will be on US-China relations, as well as on the US midterm elections in November. A US president keen for electoral success at home may be a more pliable opponent at the negotiating table. But Trump’s unpredictability complicates China’s calculations. Trump and Xi’s meeting, which is now likely to take place in May, was expected to focus on the next phase in the US-China trade war, which has been under a tempora