Diplomatic meetings between great powers usually run on choreography - everything is agreed in advance, every step measured. But Trump's visit to Beijing played out its own way. With shouting. With shoving. And with the delegation blocked for half an hour outside the Temple of Heaven.

The visit was supposed to be an exercise in cooling tensions between Washington and Beijing. The image of stabilisation was sold through the media. But behind the scenes, the teams argued over every step. Chinese and American officials clashed more than once, with raised voices. Nowhere is the depth of distrust between the two sides more visible than in that scene.

The most serious incident happened in front of the Temple of Heaven complex - one of the most revered points of tourist Beijing. Chinese officials blocked the US delegation and journalists for half an hour. The reason - an armed agent of the US Secret Service accompanying the media group. The Chinese refused to let him into the temple with a pistol. The Americans would not stand down - they are part of the presidential convoy and have to follow Trump everywhere.

Even before that, just ahead of the start of the closed bilateral meeting, there was shouting and shoving. American officials had to physically push their way through the Chinese media to secure access for the journalists following the president. A snapshot of a scene that does not look like a scene of stabilised relations.

In the end, a compromise was reached in both cases. But the damage to the narrative of a diplomatic thaw is done. When the two sides argue over guns in a temple and over the positioning of journalists, that is a signal of more than protocol mishaps. It is a signal that the deal at the top is still not translating into a working relationship between institutions.

The bigger story is always the same. Leaders shake hands. Cameras record them. And below the surface, agents and officials are arguing in the street. That is diplomacy in 2026. And that is more likely to be what history will write, not the ceremonial joint statements.