To achieve a spontaneous encounter, I had to get Mark in close proximity to President Xi. State dinners were obviously out after our experience in Panama. And President Xi, like the pope, wasn’t going to come to Mark. But I was able to negotiate Mark a slot for a keynote speech right before President Xi’s keynote speech and convince APEC to make the “connectivity revolution” the theme. Even more important, I was able to secure dressing rooms next to each other. This gives us the best opportunity in years for Mark and Xi to meet. We game out different ways of making it happen, rehearse multiple
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