The first face-to-face meeting is set to take place next week in Florida between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump.

The two leaders are expected to exchange views on important issues like trade and security.

Meanwhile, war continues to rage in the Middle East with new concerns that the U.S. is becoming more engaged militarily.

And, the UK goes it alone as it pulls the trigger on its decision to exit the EU.

To discuss the range of issues:

• Douglas Paal. He has served in both the Reagan and Bush administrations and he’s an expert on Asian affairs.  He’s now Vice President for Studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
• Andrew Small. He is Senior Transatlantic Fellow for the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
• Song Zhang. He is Chief Correspondent for the Shanghai Wen Hui Daily in Washington. 

 

This week saw Syrian peace talk efforts in Geneva as a major assault on ISIL’s symbolic capital, Raqqa, draws closer. Joining the discussion:

• Ahmed Fathi. He is an Egyptian journalist and the Managing Editor of American Television News.

Douglas Paal and Andrew Small are also joining:

For more:

China briefing: Chinese president to meet #Trump in U.S.; China's manufacturing activity expands in March; For more: https://t.co/ueoLTi4vZD pic.twitter.com/3DeFiVGNdR

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) March 31, 2017

On the eve of the invoking of Article 50, it was great to meet @Number10gov to discuss how the West Midlands will make the most of #brexit. pic.twitter.com/uB0s6CbnA8

— Andy Street (@andy4wm) March 28, 2017