Overview
- Images from the Beijing bilateral showed only men seated across the U.S. and Chinese sides at the Great Hall of the People.
- Harvard economist Gita Gopinath called it “a painting of the end of meritocracy,” arguing access now tracks networks more than skill.
- Stanford scholar Halima Kazem said the all-male lineup projected a “masculine, militarised, exclusionary” form of authority that sets who counts in “serious” diplomacy.
- Women such as Lara Trump, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser, and Meta president Dina Powell McCormick traveled with the U.S. delegation, with none seated at the table.
- Officials in Washington and Beijing had not explained the seating choice, as critics contrasted it with Obama-era meetings that included Liu Yandong, Susan Rice, and Hillary Clinton.