‘If life is a competition, for me, Xi won,’ says the expert as Donald Trump and Xi Jinping meet in China for bilateral talks discussing tense issues including Taiwan, trade and the Iran war
As Donald Trump and Xi Jinping greeted each other outside China’s Great Hall of the People they shared a historical handshake with this initial moment making clear the status of the relationship, with a body language expert claiming Xi holds the power.
All eyes are on the high stakes visit, with Trump in China to discuss issues including the Iran war, trade and what Xi claims most important, Taiwan.
The pair engaged in two hour long talks on Thursday, May 14 with the whole world watching as Xi hailed US-China relations the world’s “most important” and Trump claimed the talks were “extremely positive”.
From the outset of the visit, the power dynamic between the pair has been clear according to body language expert Louise Mahler, who argued “if life is a competition, for me, Xi won.”
Analysing the pair’s initial meeting Mahler commented that both men illustrated “their readiness to engage, eyes on eyes.”
The expert added: “They then face each other with Trump quickly feeling the need to dominate with a second hand pat.
“Xi does not release and they seem to have a brief exchange before Trump pats Xi a second time on the hand.”
This exchange was seen as an attempt for Trump to exert his dominance, albeit arguably unsuccessfully.
“Xi holds his position and eventually instigates the time to release,” Mahler adds. “Later, while they are walking Trump puts his arm on Xi guiding him forward.
“Although these gestures are often seen as friendly, the second hand pat is also seen as a power move and the patting is seen as condescending.
“If life is a competition, for me, Xi won.”
Speaking to Fox News in an interview recorded in Beijing the US President labelled the Chinese leader a “a warm person”.
And in his opening statements ahead of the bilateral talks Trump also said “It’s an honour to be your friend,” before promising that the US China relationship “is going to be better than ever before.”
