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BEIJING - US President Donald Trump arrived in Beijing on the night of May 13, where he was welcomed by a military band, an honour guard, hundreds of Chinese youth waving flags and China’s vice-president, Han Zheng.

Such carefully designed receptions for foreign leaders telegraph Beijing’s attitude towards these visits. Sometimes Beijing sends a lower-level official to convey displeasure or distance. Sometimes they send someone senior and influential to signal a high degree of respect.

This time, they sent someone who is high-level but whose position is mostly that of a figurehead – which could be a way to send a layered message.

“Beijing sent Han Zheng to Trump’s inauguration and knows that his title of vice-president, even though it is a ceremonial role, will impress the status-conscious American president,” said Mr Julian Gewirtz, a China historian at Columbia University who served in senior China policy roles in the National Security Council under President Joe Biden.

“It’s an example of how, throughout this summit, China is hoping to trade symbolism for substance – using protocol and Trump’s preference for pageantry to hold off a return to economic escalation an...