During the US-China summit, several protest groups gathered around the White House, focusing their demands on Taiwan and human rights in China — an embarrassment for Beijing in terms of optics.

• Trump and Xi Jinping held a summit at the White House, while overseas pro-democracy activists, Falun Gong practitioners and Tibetan groups staged protests on the west side of the building.
• Protesters waved flags and banged gongs, with some holding up the Republic of China flag, while on the other side overseas Chinese community groups held US and Chinese flags to welcome Xi Jinping's visit.
• Wang Dan believes the summit will produce no substantive results, arguing that the more elaborate the appearances, the more it shows the two sides are merely going through the motions.
• The core of US-China competition lies in semiconductors and geopolitics, while China's failure to take the path of democracy is the fundamental contradiction.
• For Taiwan, the most important thing is to strengthen its defences and make clear to the outside world that the Chinese Communist Party cannot represent the will of the Chinese people.

Outlook: A substantive agreement at the summit appears unlikely, and the US-China contest over semiconductors and the Taiwan Strait is expected to keep intensifying.