European leaders met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday to discuss trade, climate change and global conflicts, but observers say expectations were low for any solid agreements between both sides.

China has accused the US of "stirring up trouble" in the South China Sea in a fresh bid to stake claim to miles of international waters. Fu Cong, China's ambassador to the UN, this week launched into a series of attacks on America at the UN Security Council.

But look closer and a striking similarity emerges. Chinese leader Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump have each built their political identities around the same things: national grievance and institutional decay. In the eyes of both men, their countries ...