Bloomberg Explained Xi's Remarks To Trump About The "Thucydides Trap"
- 25.09.2026, 18:09
China is solidifying its position as a superpower on par with the United States.
During a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for expanded cooperation between the two countries to avoid the “Thucydides Trap,” — in this way, Beijing is trying to show that conflict is not inevitable, writes Bloomberg.
The agency also notes that Beijing’s message has a strategic dimension: using this term elevates the confrontation between China and the U.S. to something greater than a trade war or the Taiwan issue—to a “defining test for great-power interaction”. Furthermore, such rhetoric strengthens China’s position as a superpower on par with the U.S., the article states.
Following his meeting with Trump, Xi stated that “China and the United States must act as responsible great powers, live up to the expectations of our peoples, keep pace with the spirit of the times, and seek a new approach to great-power coexistence.”
As analyst Ji Chen Wang notes, Xi Jinping has been referring to the concept of the “Thucydides Trap” since at least 2014. In particular, he used this term during a meeting with former U.S. President Joe Biden in November 2024 on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru.
Xi Jinping also referred to this term during Trump’s visit to China in May 2026. The Chinese leader noted at the time that whether the U.S. and China could overcome the “Thucydides Trap” and create a new paradigm for relations between major powers depended on their cooperation.
Thucydides was a Greek historian of the 5th century B.C. He explained the Peloponnesian War as an inevitable clash between Athens, a rising city-state, and Sparta, an established superpower.
The term “Thucydides’ Trap” was popularized by political scientist Graham Allison in the early 2010s. Drawing on the ideas of the ancient Greek historian Thucydides, he argued that conflict is inevitable when a rising power challenges an established one. According to his research, this pattern has repeated itself time and again throughout human history.
Allison viewed the rivalry between the U.S. and China through the lens of this theory. He argued that China’s economic, technological, and military rise challenges U.S. dominance as a global superpower, creating pressure that is difficult to control, even if neither side seeks conflict.