Following the Trump–Xi meeting in mid-May, officials in both the United States and China started describing bilateral ties as “a constructive relationship of strategic stability.” However, both countries have different views of what this term means and its implications for U.S.-China relations. While the United States does not see a large difference between “strategic stability” and its other recent approaches to China, China views this new term as an acknowledgement of its superpower status on the global stage. Is the U.S.-China relationship entering a new phase or is this simply a new rhetorical framing?
Victor Shih joined us on July 9, 2026 to discuss the way the United States and China view their relationship with each other after the Trump-Xi meeting in May.
Thumbnail image: The White House Gallery
Victor Shih
Victor Shih is an expert on the politics of Chinese banking policies, fiscal policies, and exchange rate, as well as the elite politics of China. He is the author of two books published by the Cambridge University Press, “Factions and Finance in China: Elite Conflict and Inflation” and “Coalitions of the Weak: Elite Politics in China from Mao’s Stratagem to the Rise of Xi.” He is also editor of “Economic Shocks and Authoritarian Stability: Duration, Institutions and Financial Conditions,” published by the University of Michigan Press. Shih also has published widely in a number of journals, including The American Political Science Review, Comparative Political Studies, Journal of Politics, The China Quarterly, and Party Politics.
Shih is a professor of political science and the Ho Miu Lam Chair in China and Pacific Relations at UC San Diego. He is currently engaged in a study of the activities of the Chinese elite and of Chinese defense firms around the world. He is also maintaining a large database on biographical information of elites in China.
Prior to joining UC San Diego, Shih was a professor of political science at Northwestern University and former principal for The Carlyle Group.