This is John Batchel, a conversation with colleagues Steve Yates about the postponement of the meeting in Beijing between President Trump and Xi Jinping.

Is it significant that the data has not been fixed? Does it matter for the Chinese? What are the considerations that must be taken into account when a president travels overseas, Steve asks,

especially when it comes to visiting a hostile power.

Steve explains all of this and adds that we wait to be seen the new date.

As I understand, the Chinese have to have to make that decision,

and what's in the plan and what comes

next, all critical matters. Steve Yates, much more of this than I. Good day, John. It's not

terribly significant in my assessment that there isn't a date yet. We basically, the way the presidential

travel works, there's a certain window where you have to have advanced in security.

There's a rhythm to the president going to other countries, especially hostile foreign countries.

And so we're in that window where they had to make a go or no go decision.

And at least within the next couple of weeks between now and the scheduled departure,

they did not have confidence that it would look right for the president to be going overseas

during that window of time. So they put it off, and the president probably just notionally saying

four to six weeks to just go beyond whatever he thinks this period of major military operations will be.

Unquestionably, there's going to be operations in the Middle East that go beyond that window.

But getting the Straits of Formos open and operational, presumably will have to be shorter than that.

And so I think that this is sort of normal for how a White

House would think from how it works diplomatically. It's odd to me that Chinese have never

really announced that they have sort of accepted this time window, even the one that was

proposed for last fall and then delayed until about now. So there's been a

bit of kabuki when it comes to logistics and formality on this to begin with. And really, this

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