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Why did Xi refer to an Ancient Greek general in his speech to Trump?

2026-05-14 07:33:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Why did Xi refer to an Ancient Greek general in his speech to Trump?

While sitting at the center of a long table across from Trump, Xi raised a question: can the US and China overcome the so-called 'Thucydides Trap'?

The reference is reminiscent of an observation by the ancient Greek historian and general Thucydides, who claimed that the cause of the Peloponnesian War that devastated ancient Greece was a rising Athens threatening the established power of Sparta.

The “Thucydides Trap” has since emerged as a simple theory: conflict arises when a rising power challenges a dominant power.

The term was coined and used in reference to US-China relations by Harvard professor Graham Allison, a frequent visitor to China.

In 2017, he wrote that “if China is unwilling to scale back its ambitions or Washington cannot accept becoming number two in the Pacific, a trade conflict, cyberattack or maritime accident could soon escalate into all-out war.”

Xi's choice to refer to the "trap" in his opening remarks to Trump sends a clear message about the kind of stability the Chinese leader hopes to see in their relationship.

"Whether China and the United States can overcome the so-called 'Thucydides Trap' and pioneer a new paradigm of relations between major countries... are matters of history, matters of the world, and matters of the people," Xi told Trump.

"They are also the answers of our era that you and I, as leaders of great countries, must write together," he added.

This is not the first time Xi has referred to the “trap.” He raised it during a trip to Washington, D.C. in 2015, where he argued that such a trap is not a natural reality, but a circumstance that countries can create themselves if they “fall into strategic misjudgment,” according to a report by Chinese state media./ CNA





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