Pageantry. That’s always been the word that comes to mind when I think of events like last week’s UN General Assembly. Rarely are there real outcomes, and rarely does it feel like the fanfare is worth the enormous amount of taxpayer money the U.S. government spends on hotel rooms, flights, and trains for staff to head to New York City.

Pageantry also came to mind during last week’s summit between Chairman Xi and President Trump. Little has been revealed about the content of the discussions, other than a two-month extension of the trade truce, a slight alleviation of tariffs, and a continued AI dialogue. But, along with the General Assembly, it highlights a truth often overlooked in policy: pageantry actually serves a purpose.

As Sunny Cheung, Wilson Center and Jamestown Foundation Fellow and our guest on Flash Focus this week, highlighted, Chinese state media is obsessed with the optics of Xi’s visit. Images of President Trump greeting Xi on his arrival have dominated the news, with reports focusing on how Trump literally rolled out the red carpet for the chairman. China is using the visit as evidence that it is now being treated by the United States as our equal.

Achieving universally acknowledged superpower status has been Chairman Xi’s goal all along, and his doing so while simultaneously working to undermine American sovereignty makes these optics even more striking. His policies are deeply antagonistic to the United States, from trade wars to detaining American citizens like Youlin Chen and Min Zin, to weaponizing supply chains, monopolizing critical minerals, sponsoring the influx of fentanyl into the United States, supporting Iran, spreading anti-American propaganda, and threatening Taiwan. Yet what we saw during the summit was a different story entirely: free pandas, offers of academic trips to China, and red carpets.

These optics have a real impact. Yes, it is in the United States’ interest to engage with other countries, particularly those with growing power like China. But this kind of hand holding heightens Chairman Xi’s standing and obfuscates China’s status as an adversary for the American public. No wonder a recent Pew Research study reported that the share of U.S. adults with a warm view of China increased from 11 percent five years ago to 19 percent today. The numbers are worse abroad; while the United States historically has been viewed more positively than China, that reversed in 2026—with over six out of 36 countries viewing the United States more positively than China.

Granted, it is important that our leaders not confuse mere rhetoric for real action. The United States did not make any critically careless concessions to China last week. But it is equally important to understand the role that optics, messaging, and soft power more broadly play in building American security. They can work to our detriment—as we saw during the Trump-Xi summit, when the optics signaled China’s growing status as a peer—but they can also work to our advantage, helping deepen alliances, advance U.S. products and trade, and safeguard our citizens as they travel abroad. Ultimately, we need to remember that while policy might be the engine of our security, pageantry is the window through which the world perceives our strength. We cannot afford to close the curtains.