Xi Prepares China 'For Battle' as Analyst Warns of a Dangerous Moment Before Washington Summit

.

A Summit Shadowed by Warnings

President Trump is preparing to welcome Chinese leader Xi Jinping to the White House on September 24, in what will be their second meeting this year following Trump's visit to Beijing in May. Officials on both sides describe the summit as an attempt to stabilize a relationship strained by trade disputes, technology competition, and the ongoing war involving Iran.

Even as both governments talk up cooperation, longtime China analyst Gordon Chang says the tone in Beijing tells a different story. Chang, a senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute, argues that Xi is actively organizing Chinese society — both civilian and military — for potential conflict with the United States.

.

"A Very Dangerous Period"

Speaking on Fox News, Chang said Xi has repeatedly raised the idea of confrontation with Washington while simultaneously preparing the country for it. He described the current moment as one where American leaders may be assuming peace while Beijing readies for something else entirely.

According to Chang, this mismatch in perception — Washington believing tensions can be managed diplomatically while Beijing braces for confrontation — is what makes the coming weeks especially risky. He has made similar arguments for several years, pointing to what he calls the fastest Chinese military buildup since World War II, along with efforts to stockpile critical resources and shield the country's economy from Western sanctions.

.

China's Alleged Role in a Deadly Attack on U.S. Troops

Chang's warning lands alongside a separate and serious allegation: that Chinese-linked entities supplied Iran with satellite imagery used in a missile attack that killed American soldiers.

According to reporting first published by the Wall Street Journal and independently confirmed by AFP, Iran obtained high-resolution satellite images of Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan from Chinese sources both before and after a missile strike on July 17. The attack hit a housing compound where U.S. troops were sleeping, killing three soldiers and wounding four others. U.S. officials say the imagery is the clearest evidence yet that Chinese support for Iran has had lethal consequences for American forces, though they stopped short of directly accusing Beijing's government of orchestrating the transfer.

China's Foreign Ministry has denied involvement and demanded evidence, accusing unnamed parties of using the war to smear China. When asked whether he would raise the matter directly with Xi, Trump downplayed the report, comparing Chinese intelligence-gathering activities to those routinely carried out by the United States itself.

.

Why This Meeting Looks Different From May

Analysts note that the circumstances surrounding this summit have shifted considerably since Trump and Xi last met in Beijing. Since May, fighting in the Middle East has intensified, the global race over artificial intelligence has accelerated, and a fragile tariff truce between Washington and Beijing — reached last October — is set to expire in mid-November.

Trade researchers expect the two leaders to focus on extending that truce and securing narrow wins on agricultural exports and rare-earth mineral supplies, rather than any sweeping reset of the relationship. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has said both sides are expected to make limited announcements on agriculture and non-tariff barriers during the visit.

.

A Leader Who Can't Afford to Compromise, Analyst Says

Chang argues that domestic pressure inside the Chinese Communist Party leaves Xi little room to make concessions during the Washington visit. He points to ongoing turbulence within China's top military ranks, including vacancies in key command positions, as a sign of internal instability that could make Xi more rigid rather than more flexible in negotiations.

Chang has also argued in his own writing that Xi views America's global position as being in decline while China's continues to rise — a belief Chang says leaves the Chinese leader unwilling to soften his stance regardless of diplomatic pressure from Washington.

.

What's at Stake for Practitioners of Falun Dafa and Human Rights in China

While the summit's public agenda centers on trade and security, human rights advocates continue to note that the Chinese Communist Party's domestic repression — including the decades-long persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners — remains unaddressed in high-level U.S.-China talks. Critics argue that a foreign policy focused narrowly on trade risks overlooking the party's broader record of human rights abuses at home.

.

What Comes Next

With the summit just days away, the combination of military posturing, unresolved questions about China's role in arming Iran, and an expiring trade truce means the meeting carries higher stakes than the leaders' encounter in May. Whether Trump uses the visit to press Xi on these issues — or whether trade concessions dominate the agenda instead — will likely shape the tone of U.S.-China relations heading into the final months of the year.

.

Sources

1. Reuters (via The Print) – "Factbox: What will Trump and Xi discuss in Washington next week?" – https://theprint.in/world/factbox-what-will-trump-and-xi-discuss-in-washington-next-week/3046121/
2. AFP (via Philippine Tribune) – "Iran got Chinese satellite images before deadly strike on U.S. troops" – https://tribune.net.ph/2026/09/13/iran-got-chinese-satellite-images-before-deadly-strike-on-us-troops
3. TimesLIVE (Reuters wire) – "Trump downplays report China entities helped Iran in deadly attack on US troops" – https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/world/2026-09-14-trump-downplays-report-china-entities-helped-iran-in-deadly-attack-on-us-troops/
4. South China Morning Post – "Prediction markets have priced the Trump-Xi summit. Do the bets have any value?" – https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3365846/prediction-markets-have-priced-trump-xi-summit-do-bets-have-any-value
5. Gatestone Institute – "Xi Jinping and China: Running Out of Time, Ready to Strike" by Gordon G. Chang – https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20788/china-xi-ready-to-strike

.