US president reported to be staying at Beijing’s St Regis hotel, surrounded by members of the Communist party’s paramilitary guard and CCTV

Uncompromising luxury. Exquisite life. Fun, redefined.



Check into Beijing’s St Regis hotel and you are promised all this and more while staying at the “most historic and prestigious address” in town.

Just not this week.

For with Donald Trump and his entourage due to arrive on Wednesday afternoon there is suddenly no room at this five-star, 102-suite inn, a short drive east of Tiananmen Square. “I’m sorry, sir, our hotel is already full,” a female receptionist announced apologetically on the eve of the US president’s arrival.



What will happen on Trump's super-sized state visit to China? Read more

Outside, cheval de frise-style barricades and uniformed members of the Communist party’s paramilitary guard, some clutching automatic weapons, gave away what has become the Chinese capital’s worst-kept political secret.



Workers busied themselves placing white CCTV cameras around the perimeter of Trump’s temporary Beijing abode. Officers from the People’s Armed Police gently scolded journalists and passersby who tried to snap photographs of their presidential cordon. “Sorry,” one said, waving a white glove at the intruder. “No photos! No photos!” warned another.

Trump can expect a far warmer reception when he lands at Beijing’s international airport and is whisked westwards towards the St Regis, through golden autumnal corridors of ginkgo trees.



Teng Jianqun, a fellow at the state-run China Institute of International Studies, predicted the property tycoon president would be allowed to “rejoice in grandiosity” as Beijing sought to charm its mercurial guest with what officials here are calling a “state visit-plus”.

Trump’s swift but pomp-filled swing through China - part of an 11-day mission to Asia - will kick off this afternoon at the Forbidden City, the spectacular Ming dynasty hub of imperial rule. “I believe that will be very personal and special occasion,” his ambassador to Beijing, Terry Branstad, told reporters.



Later, he will meet China’s leader, Xi Jinping, for talks and a private dinner. On Thursday Trump will be feted during a series of events at the Great Hall of the People, the party’s gargantuan ceremonial venue in Tiananmen Square, before a banquet is thrown in his honour.



“Such hospitality is rarely seen in modern China,” the state-run Global Times gushed on Wednesday.

For all the self-interested pageantry the party will lay on, Trump’s call on China is not just about satisfying the property magnate’s imperial pretentions. His presence is also an unmissable chance for Xi to flaunt his own ambitions having last month proclaimed a “new era” of Chinese power, prosperity and world leadership.

Since taking power in 2012, Xi has been pushing for US acceptance of what he calls “a new type of great power relations” which would see Washington publicly agree to share the global spotlight with a resurgent Beijing. Having emerged triumphant from a political summit at which he was anointed China’s most dominant leader since Mao Zedong, some believe Xi will now turbo-charge that offensive and seek Trump’s blessing for his political vision.



Li Yonghui, an international relations expert from Beijing’s Foreign Studies University, said Trump’s visit gave Xi a golden opportunity to contrast the “messy state” of the US with the power and glories of an ascendant China.



Beijing’s decision to roll out the red carpet carries risks, not least that a rogue tweet might emerge from the luxurious confines of the St Regis, puncturing Beijing’s highly-scripted hospitality.



“What is worst about him - and must be a bit worrying for the Chinese - is that I don’t think Trump himself knows from one day to the next what he is going to say or do,” said Roderick MacFarquhar, a Harvard University China expert. “His Twitter in the morning is based probably on what he saw on Fox News the night before. His judgements are totally self-interested … He’s a bit like Boris Johnson, only in a much worse place to exercise power.”

Li said China’s leaders would not be “overwhelmed” by their volatile guest, even if they could not predict his every move. But he too saw dangers and urged Beijing to proceed with caution: “Trump is a very unique president.”



Additional reporting by Wang Zhen

