telling a u.s. business lobby group he s willing to work with the u.s. to find ways to cooperate. there have been signs of possible tweaks in china s position on ukraine, xi jinping telling the visiting german chancellor that beijing opposes the threat or use of nuclear weapons, which is seen as a subtle rebuke to mr. putin, given the russian leader s nuclear posturing. all of this is why chinese state media, as well as officials, echoing american officials saying the meeting itself is a positive sign, stressing the importance of keeping lines of communication open at the highest level, especially when tensions are running high. the problem here, of course, the relationship is in a freefall. not because of the lack of a rapport between the leaders, who have known each other for years. it is really because how each side views its own strengths and the other side s intentions. washington, of course, has been increasingly vocal about china under sociaxi jinping becoming