Less
than six weeks ahead of a likely summit between US President Donald
Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, preparations are inadequate,
bilateral contacts anaemic and outcomes diminished, according to
analysts and former government officials familiar with planning.
AI OVERVIEW
As of late February 2026, the situation is characterized by the following key issues:
Inadequate Coordination:
Analysts and former officials describe preparations as "inadequate" and
bilateral contacts as "anaemic" with less than six weeks until the
likely April meeting in Beijing.
Differing Diplomatic Styles: Beijing's preference for highly scripted, mistake-free events clashes with President Trump's reliance on spontaneity, "gut" instinct, and personal magnetism.
Organizational Shortfalls:
Reluctance to Delegate: Trump's tendency to centralize decision-making and focus on "quick wins" has stalled traditional diplomatic processes.
Inexperienced Team:
Reports indicate a small group of organizers without prior experience
in such high-level events is leading the U.S. planning effort.
Beijing's Anxiety:
Chinese officials are reportedly "extremely concerned" about the lack
of preparation, fearing it could lead to unpredictable outcomes or a
summit focused more on optics than meaningful policy breakthroughs.
Strategic Risks: Experts warn that a lack of prepared deliverables could allow Beijing to pressure the U.S. on sensitive issues like Taiwan or trade concessions, especially if formal agendas and outcomes are not fixed beforehand.
This summit is intended to follow previous high-stakes encounters, such as their October 2025 meeting in Busan, and aims to stabilize trade ties following years of tension.
“On 28 February 2026, the US and Israel commenced joint military action in Iran, Israeli airspace has now closed.”
British
nationals in the region are urged to take “sensible precautions”,
including following advice from regional authorities, staying away from
military facilities and ensuring travel documents are up to date.
Flights cancelled and routes suspended after US and Israel launch strikes on Iran
All three giant Middle East hubs close down, disrupting plans for hundreds of thousands of travellers
Israeli Air Forces carried out coordinated strikes against Iranian air defense infrastructure during Operation Epic Fury, targeting what the Israeli Air Force described on February 28, 2026, as multiple strategic surface-to-air missile systems in the Kermanshah region. While Israeli officials referred to one destroyed system as an advanced “SA-65,” technical analysis by defense observers, including the Army Recognition Group, indicates that the launcher and radar configuration shown in the released 3D operational footage align with Iran’s Khordad-3 medium-range surface-to-air missile battery.
Images and videos posted on social media following the joint United States–Israeli strikes on Iran on 28 February 2026 appear to show debris from Israeli Blue Sparrow–series missile boosters in Iraq, as well as Israeli Air Force F-15 fighter jets taking off at night for strike missions. These elements suggest the possible use of air-launched ballistic missiles in the opening waves of the operation. However, Israeli authorities have so far not publicly detailed the weapons employed, and the identification of the missiles remains based on open-source analysis of debris and flight footage rather than on official confirmation. In the absence of formal confirmation from Israeli or US authorities regarding the munitions used, the discussion centers on the documented characteristics of the Blue Sparrow system and its integration on F-15 aircraft, while treating current imagery as indicative but not conclusive evidence of operational use. Read Full Defense News At This Link.
Open-source imagery from the 28 February 2026 US and Israeli strikes on Iran suggests Israel may have employed Blue Sparrow air-launched ballistic missiles in the operation’s opening phase, though officials have not confirmed the weapon used (Picture Source: Israeli Ministry of Defense / Social Media)
Iran’s missile arsenal now stands at the center of the confrontation unfolding under Operation Epic Fury, with U.S. bases, allied facilities, maritime chokepoints, and regional capitals falling within layered strike envelopes. Tehran fields one of the region’s most diversified inventories, including short- and medium-range ballistic missiles, land-attack cruise missiles, anti-ship systems, heavy artillery rockets, and space launch vehicles with dual-use technological implications. Military analysts note that under sustained combat conditions, the decisive variables extend beyond raw missile counts to include the survivability of mobile launchers, hardened storage sites, reload capacity, command-and-control resilience, and the ability to orchestrate coordinated salvos capable of stressing or saturating regional air and missile defense networks.Read full Defense News at this link …
Graphic showing layered Iranian missile threat rings from 150 km to 2,000 km, demonstrating how Tehran’s SRBM, MRBM, and cruise missile inventory places regional military installations within overlapping strike ranges. (Picture source: CSIS)
Operation Epic Fury began on February 28, 2026, as U.S. and Israeli forces carried out coordinated strikes against targets inside Iran, according to early reporting by ABC News, The Washington Post, and Euronews citing U.S. officials. The U.S. Department of Defense formally designated the campaign, which reportedly involved both crewed aircraft and sea-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from U.S. Navy vessels operating in the region.
On 25 February 2026, Norway and the United Kingdom formalised a new helicopter cooperation agreement that allows British military helicopters to operate routinely from Norwegian naval and coast guard vessels, as well as from Norwegian bases.
On February 27, 2026, the French Armed Forces’ official operations account on X (@EtatMajorFR) released imagery from the CALFEX live-fire phase in Estonia, capturing U.S. M1 Abrams, UK Challenger 2, and French AMX-10 RC vehicles maneuvering within a single allied formation. The post underscored joint live gunnery, coordinated armored–infantry maneuvers, and a culminating tank gunnery challenge held in recognition of International Tank Day.
On February 25, 2026, the United States Navy and Philippine maritime forces demonstrated coordinated sea control operations in the Philippine Sea as the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Dewey sailed alongside BRP Antonio Luna and BRP Gabriela Silang within the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone.
On February 28, 2026, the United States and Israeli forces initiated Operation Epic Fury, executing coordinated multi-domain precision strikes against Iranian military and nuclear infrastructure after Iran fired missiles into Israeli territory earlier in the day. According to defense officials, the campaign is designed to dismantle Tehran’s ballistic missile architecture while disrupting sensitive nuclear development layers that could support a weapons capability.
