The handshakes looked easy. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping stood side by side at the National Archives in Washington, examined founding documents of the United States, and later shared a formal state dinner. For one evening, the world's two most powerful men appeared genuinely at ease with each other. Cameras captured smiles.

Aides exchanged folders. The optics, by any measure, were a success. But two former NPR correspondents who spent years reporting from inside China were quick to pump the brakes. The visit, they argued, delivered theatre before it delivered policy.

On the issues that matter most — Taiwan, trade tariffs, restrictions on advanced semiconductors, and military communication channels — no binding agreements were announced. Washington and Beijing both claimed the talks were "constructive," a diplomatic word that often signals very little has actually changed on the ground. What the summit did achieve, analysts say, was a reset of tone. After months of sharp rhetoric and tit-for-tat economic measures, the two governments signalled that they prefer managed competition to open confrontation.