President Trump heads to China this Thursday with leverage most presidents never possessed. The Iran war's launch — and the two-month delay it forced on the summit — left Beijing exposed: 40% of China's oil transits the Strait of Hormuz, the same waterway Tehran was blockading. Xi's public call for Iran to stand down wasn't a favor to Washington. It was self-preservation dressed as diplomacy.
The republic does not owe Xi gratitude for actions China took in its own interest. The long memory of this republic recalls every president who rushed to Beijing seeking accommodation and returned with promises that dissolved inside a year. Xi watches for weakness and moves on it — quietly, persistently, across decades.
Trump holds real receipts: a blocked Panama Canal bid, a $11 billion Taiwan arms deal, new rare-earth supply lines no longer running through Chinese ports, and a September deadline on fentanyl-precursor exports. The duty now is simple. Arrive, demand, and concede nothing the Founders would not recognize as worth trading away.