Two of the world's most consequential leaders are preparing to meet at a moment when the distance between their nations feels both vast and dangerously narrow. The Trump-Xi summit arrives as the United States and China find themselves locked in overlapping contests — over the security of digital networks, the future of artificial intelligence, and the fate of Taiwan — each one capable of pulling the other toward confrontation. Diplomacy here is not merely procedural; it is the fragile architecture standing between managed rivalry and uncontrolled escalation. What is decided, or left undecided,