For years, Chinese officials denounced U.S. demands that TikTok’s Chinese owner sell its American operations as daylight robbery. Now Chinese state media are hailing recent negotiations to do just that as a win-win.

几年来，中国官员一直谴责美国要求TikTok的中国所有者出售其美国业务的行为，称其为光天化日之下的抢劫。现在，中国官方媒体却将近期推进此项交易的谈判称为双赢。

On Friday, China’s leader, Xi Jinping, and President Trump spoke by phone, in a call Mr. Trump said had resulted in “progress” on the “approval of the TikTok Deal” and other issues. Mr. Xi indicated he would be in favor of a commercial deal for TikTok that benefited both sides.

周五，中国国家主席习近平与特朗普总统通电话。特朗普称双方在“批准TikTok交易”及其他议题上取得了“进展”。习近平表示支持达成惠及双方的TikTok商业交易。

Though the phone call did not appear to have sealed the deal as some had expected, the fact that Mr. Xi was even willing to discuss TikTok with Mr. Trump shed light on Beijing’s strategy.

尽管此次通话并未如外界预期的那样敲定协议，但习近平愿意与特朗普讨论TikTok一事本身就揭示了北京的策略考量。

For China, yielding on TikTok would be a way to offer the American president a symbolic win on an issue close to his heart — saving the hugely popular video app that he credits for helping him connect with young voters and win re-election. In exchange, Beijing would seek more room to negotiate on the matters it cares about most: tariffs, technology and Taiwan.

对中国来说，在TikTok上让步可以让美国总统在一个心头大事上获得象征性的胜利——保全这个他认为帮助自己与年轻选民建立联系并赢得连任的超级热门视频应用。作为交换，北京将争取在关税、技术和台湾等核心关切领域获得更多谈判空间。

“There’s much bigger fish to fry,” said Yun Sun, the director of the China program at the Stimson Center in Washington. “If China can use these small concessions to trade for a positive atmosphere, better U.S.-China relations, they will want to do it,” she said, referring to TikTok.

“还有更重要的事情需要解决，”华盛顿史汀生中心中国项目主任孙韵说。“如果中国可以利用这些小小的让步来换取积极的氛围、改善美中关系，他们会愿意的，”她指的是TikTok。

The Chinese government described the conversation as “pragmatic, positive and constructive.” On TikTok, Mr. Xi said he “respects the wishes of the company and would be happy to see productive commercial negotiations” in accordance with market rules and Chinese law.

中国政府称这次对话是“务实、积极、建设性的”。关于TikTok，习近平表示，中方“尊重企业意愿，乐见企业在符合市场规则基础上做好商业谈判”。

Mr. Trump said the two leaders would meet during an Asia-Pacific summit in South Korea next month, their first in-person meeting of Mr. Trump’s second term. Mr. Trump also said that he would travel to China early next year, but Beijing’s official summary of the call made no mention of upcoming meetings.

特朗普表示，两位领导人将于下月在韩国举行的亚太峰会上会面，这是两人在特朗普第二任期首次面对面会晤。特朗普还表示，他将于明年初访问中国，但北京对这次通话的官方摘要没有提及任何即将举行的会晤。

TikTok may be a bargaining chip for China. The fate of the app in the United States, where it is deemed a national security threat, pales in comparison to Beijing’s other problems like U.S. export controls and tariffs, which could constrain China’s own economic and technological development.

TikTok对中国来说可能是一个讨价还价的筹码。这款应用在美国被视作国家安全威胁，但其在美命运与北京面临的其他问题相比已无足轻重——诸如可能制约中国自身经济科技发展的美国出口管制及关税措施。

TikTok’s recommendation algorithm is also less novel and therefore less important to the Chinese leadership than it was five years ago when the saga over the app began.

与五年前围绕TikTok的波澜刚刚开始时相比，TikTok的推荐算法也已经不那么新颖，因此对中国领导层来说其重要性已大不如前。

2024年，TikTo首席执行官周受资在参议院司法委员会听证会上。

All that makes TikTok “an expendable concession,” according to Dimitar Gueorguiev, director of Chinese studies at Syracuse University. “Chinese officials have let the issue fester for years, holding it in reserve as a problem they could one day solve to defuse pressure from Washington,” he said. “A deal now costs Beijing less than when negotiations started, while still yielding the maximum optics of compromise.”

雪城大学中国问题研究主任迪米塔尔·格奥尔古耶夫指出，所有这些都使TikTok成为“一个可牺牲的让步”。“中国官员多年来一直让这个问题持续发酵，把它作为一个储备筹码，以待将来化解华盛顿压力时使用，”他说。“如今达成协议对北京的成本低于谈判开始时，却仍能最大限度展现妥协姿态。”

In Beijing’s calculus, the moment to use the TikTok card is now when China, with its chokehold over critical minerals, believes that it holds maximum leverage that it can use in a meeting with Mr. Trump.

在北京的战略考量中，当下正是打出TikTok这张牌的最佳时机——凭借对关键矿产的掌控，中国自信已掌握与特朗普会晤时的最大筹码。

“The Chinese side is much more experienced and has much more tolerance and is much more tactical,” said Li Daokui, a prominent economist at Tsinghua University in Beijing. “They know what the U.S. wants and they understand Trump’s negotiating style.”

“中方经验丰富得多，更有耐性，也更有策略，”北京清华大学著名经济学家李稻葵表示。“他们知道美国想要什么，也了解特朗普的谈判风格。”

To get Mr. Trump to lower tariffs on China, Beijing could offer a commitment to buy more U.S. soybeans — something the president has publicly said he hopes would happen — or purchase Boeing aircraft.

为了让特朗普降低对中国的关税，北京可以承诺购买更多美国大豆——总统曾公开表示希望看到此类进展——或者购买波音飞机。

But Beijing would need to act quickly to make good on any such promise. It is late to bid on this year’s soybean crop and Boeing’s order book is quickly filling up. China’s leaders also face real risks in negotiating with someone as unpredictable as Mr. Trump.

但北京需要迅速行动以兑现承诺。现在购买今年的大豆作物已经较晚，波音的订单簿也在快速填满。对中国领导人而言，与特朗普这样难以预测的人物谈判存在实际风险。。

“They understand that there needs to be a trade deal to pave the ground for Trump to come to China, and they want to make sure this is not retractable — that they don’t put their hearts on the table and the U.S. just stabs it with a knife,” Dr. Sun said.

“他们明白，需要达成一项贸易协议，为特朗普访华铺平道路，他们希望确保这是不可撤销的——他们不愿看到自己掏出心来，却被美国捅刀，”孙韵说。

“They cannot predict whether or not that will happen again, but they know if it does that will be humiliating for the Chinese leader.”

“他们无法预测这种情况是否会再次发生，但他们知道，这种事一旦发生，将是对中国领导人的羞辱。”

Still, Mr. Xi will likely go into his meeting with Mr. Trump next month with confidence. Far from being alienated by U.S. pressure, he has shown that Beijing has many friends. Earlier this month, he presided over an elaborate military parade in Beijing, flanked by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un.

尽管如此，习近平在下月与特朗普会晤时很可能底气十足。在美国施压之下，他非但未被孤立，反而展现出北京拥有众多伙伴的事实。本月初，他在北京主持盛大阅兵式时，俄罗斯总统普京与朝鲜领导人金正恩站在他的两侧。

今年9月，在纪念第二次世界大战结束80周年的阅兵式上，习近平与俄罗斯总统普京、朝鲜领导人金正恩并肩而立。

Mr. Trump has for months signaled his interest in meeting the Chinese leader, whom the president describes as a “good friend” and has repeatedly said he admires. Momentum has been building for such a meeting in recent weeks, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaking with their Chinese counterparts.

特朗普几个月来一直表示有兴趣与中国领导人会面，称习近平为“好朋友”，并一再表示钦佩。最近几周，国务卿鲁比奥和国防部长海格塞斯与中国同级官员进行了会谈，特朗普与习近平可能举行会晤的势头不断升温。

The Trump administration has also taken steps seen as favorable to China. Mr. Trump allowed certain AI chips made by Nvidia to be exported to China, and in June, the White House told President Lai Ching-te of Taiwan not to make a scheduled stopover in New York for a visit that Beijing would have protested.

特朗普政府还采取了被视为对中国有利的措施。特朗普允许英伟达生产的某些人工智能芯片出口到中国。今年6月，白宫告诉台湾总统赖清德取消原定访问行程中的纽约过境安排，因此举势必会引发北京抗议。

Chinese leaders “have seen Trump be willing to negotiate on issues that were previously nonnegotiable,” said Henrietta Levin, a senior fellow with the Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

中国领导人“已看到特朗普愿意在此前不可协商的问题上作出让步”，战略与国际研究中心中国研究弗里曼主席的高级研究员亨丽埃塔·莱文说。

China wants Washington to loosen export controls on advanced chips and to cut back its support of Taiwan, which Beijing claims is part of China.

中国希望华盛顿放松对先进芯片的出口管制，并减少对台湾的支持。北京称台湾是中国的一部分。

China hopes to show that the United States is “more eager for a deal than the other way around,” according to Ali Wyne, senior research and advocacy adviser for U.S.-China relations at the International Crisis Group.

国际危机组织美中关系高级研究和倡导顾问阿里·韦恩说，中国意在向外界表明，是美国“更渴望达成协议，而不是相反”。

Chinese officials have said that the outline of an agreement struck in Madrid earlier this week with their U.S. counterparts, the fourth round of talks in the last four months, goes beyond TikTok and includes lowering investment barriers and improving trade and economic cooperation.

中国官员表示，本周早些时候在马德里与美方达成的协议纲要——这是过去四个月来的第四轮谈判——不仅限于TikTok，还包括降低投资壁垒，深化贸易和经济合作等内容。

During the leaders’ conversation on Friday, Mr. Xi called on the United States to refrain from unilateral trade restrictions that undermine progress made in trade negotiations. Mr. Xi also said he hoped that America would provide an “open and fair environment” for Chinese companies to invest in the country.

在周五的领导人通话中，习近平呼吁美国避免采取破坏贸易谈判进展的单边贸易限制措施。习近平还表示希望美国为中国企业在美投资提供“开放、公平、非歧视的营商环境”。

9月，美中就贸易、经济和国家安全问题举行会谈当天，中国官员在马德里举行记者会。

The last time the two leaders spoke by phone, in June, Mr. Xi compared the relationship between the United States and China to a large ship kept on course by two powerful helmsmen. He warned Mr. Trump to “steer clear of various disturbances or even sabotage,” an apparent reference to the more hawkish voices in his administration.

两国领导人上次通话是在6月，当时习近平将中美关系比作由两位强大舵手掌舵的巨轮。他告诫特朗普要“排除各种干扰甚至破坏”，这显然是指特朗普政府内部更强硬的声音。

“There are important differences of opinion between Trump and his advisers. China will likely to seek to probe and exploit those differences,” said Mr. Wyne of the International Crisis Group.

“特朗普和他的顾问们之间存在重大意见分歧。中国可能会寻求探查并利用这些分歧，”国际危机组织的韦恩说。

The fact that the two leaders are speaking at all suggests to some that the relationship is steadying. Whether that continues depends on how the in-person meeting between the two leaders goes.

在部分人士看来，两位领导人能进行对话这一事实表明，两国关系正趋于稳定。这种情况能否继续，取决于两国领导人的面对面会晤进展如何。

“Until then we cannot say for sure, OK, this is a relatively stable and predictable relationship,” said Wu Xinbo, the dean of the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai. “I can tell we are moving in that direction but the major indicator will be the forthcoming summit.”

“在那之前，我们尚不能断言两国关系已进入相对稳定可控的阶段，”上海复旦大学国际问题研究所所长吴心伯说。“可以说我们正朝着这个方向前进，但主要指标将是即将举行的峰会。”