Trump’s arrogance and blundering have created an unprecedented opening for Xi. He could completely remove India from any part of the American orbit for the foreseeable future simply by relinquishing China’s claim to some fairly worthless territory in the Himalayas. Why doesn’t he do it?
Because the one domestic group Xi appears to fear is the nationalists. He doesn’t want to subject himself to accusations of being a wimp even if, on the whole, it would be in China’s best interests.