| Welcome to Balance of Power, bringing you the latest in global politics. If you haven’t yet, sign up here. In an age when decisions of great consequence are announced — and reversed — in an instant on social media, it may seem like a paradox that governments worldwide are looking to buy time. It’s a reality that underlies talks between US and Chinese officials in London today. While both sides still need access to each other’s markets, and therefore are seeking a thaw in relations, they also both want to reduce dependence on the other and are using whatever leverage they have to get what they want. President Donald Trump wants the US to reshore key industries, control critical supply chains and ensure it doesn’t need to rely on China for rare earths and magnets — a task that cannot happen overnight, if at all. China, meanwhile, is looking to match the US’s technological and military supremacy, and is aiming to use its control of critical minerals to loosen US curbs on advanced chips.  Gantry cranes and container ships at the Yangshan Deepwater Port in Shanghai, China. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg Although the sudden appearance of DeepSeek’s AI capabilities or the insides of a Huawei phone suggest that gap may be narrowing quickly, China still has a ways to go when it comes to breakthroughs on chipmaking equipment, chip design and commercial aircraft. Both have been accused of upending the global trade system and rules-based order, as well as weaponizing others’ reliance on the world’s two largest economies. That has led to a push — from Canada to the Indo-Pacific — to become more autonomous. Vladimir Putin, too, is playing for time. The Russian president knows that his maximalist demands of Ukraine are unacceptable and shows no sign of being serious about peace. Indeed, Moscow is reconstituting its military forces and ramping up its weapons-making capacity. Intelligence assessments are that Russia will be in a position to attack NATO territory within five years. So Europe is racing to boost its defenses before then. It’s doing so while looking to delay a tariff war with the US and rewire its economy amid budget constraints. That’s as leaders across the continent strive to push back against far-right parties knocking at the doors of power. Playing for time has in the past led to tragic consequences. The question, now as then, is what political leaders do with the time they’re trying to buy.— Alberto Nardelli  Trump and Xi Jinping in 2017. Photographer: Nicolas Asfouri/Getty Images | 
