The red lines have moved back and forth as the nature of technology has changed,” Mr. Pillsbury said. He added that while Mr. Trump is eager to announce a $1 trillion Chinese investment pledge, he is mindful not to incite political backlash. “I think there’s been an effort by the administration to avoid getting into a fight with the China hawks,” Mr. Pillsbury added.

Michael Pillsbury, a top China adviser to Mr. Trump during his first term, said Beijing was most likely waiting to see what the deals that the Trump administration reaches with other nations such as India and Japan look like before engaging directly. “They don’t want to start the formal talks because they want to know the bottom line from others first,” said Mr. Pillsbury, who speaks to U.S. and Chinese officials. He noted that the trade fight has become a major point of national pride for China and that it believes that Mr. Trump’s demands — which Beijing does not fully grasp — will soften as American markets gyrate and midterm elections in the United States draw closer. “Delay is very much in their interest, and a speedy deal is very much in Trump’s interest,” Mr. Pillsbury said

“With my experience with the Chinese, they are suspicious in the initial rounds of a negotiation that there are hidden traps or other reasons to be cautious,” said Michael Pillsbury, a China expert who advises the Trump administration on dealing with the country.

Michael Pillsbury, a China expert who advised Trump during his first-term trade negotiations, told the NYT that Trump had shared with him "a few months ago" his desire to secure a deal with Xi "that benefits both sides."

Michael Pillsbury, who served as Mr. Trump’s top outside adviser on China during his first term, said that meetings among midlevel American and Chinese officials tend to be fruitless because they have little authority to make major policy decisions. He said that he expected that Mr. Trump would have little patience in such a format and that he instead would focus on direct talks with President Xi Jinping.

Haley vs DeSantis NY Times “Each seems to be accusing the other of being secretly corrupted by the Chinese,” said Michael Pillsbury, a top China adviser to the Trump administration. “My impression is they could not attack Trump on China policy, so he won.”