“Xi Jinping had just finished a lunch of herbed-ricotta ravioli at a secluded estate outside San Francisco in 2023 when his security agents sprang into action,” the Wall Street Journal reports.“Their mission: ensuring no trace of the Chinese leader’s DNA fell into foreign hands. The agents—measuring about 6-foot-3, dressed in identical dark suits—were observed grabbing Xi’s utensils and plate and spraying them with an unidentified liquid.”“Welcome to the unseen theater of great-power diplomacy, where a meeting of the two most powerful leaders on earth can hinge on the slightest missed protocol, an unexpected miscue or even a bit of saliva left on a fork. It is a ritual that is at once deeply absurd and deadly serious. The length of a red carpet can say more about the state of the world than official statements.”