According to this priceless report in The Guardian from November 30, 2017, Chinese state media described the meeting between Barack Obama and Xi, which took place two weeks after President Trump's state visit to Beijing, as a meeting of "veteran cadres." 

If you are a lifelong communist, "veteran cadre" is a term of veneration. If you are a former president if the United States, "veteran cadre" is a term of treason.

The Guardian put it this way:

Chinese media fawned over Obama and Xi, dubbing the pair `veteran cadres', a term typically applied to retired Communist officials. But in a sign of the diplomatic sensitivity, Chinese state media reported on the event in a single terse article.

Western media mirrored Chinese state media as it was the Guardian alone that reported on the event in a single terse article, too.

The story is well worth remembering for many reasons. I was reminded of it last fall when Veteran Cadre Obama, Beijing business school chairman Tim Cook and Russian Oligarch Robert &^%$ De Niro met for dinner at Yves in Tribeca on Monday, October 21, 2019 .

I'm sure this troika had much to discuss. Who knows? Maybe the now-notorious corona pandemic planning event, Event 201, which took place the previous Friday. came up as they sampled the warm cheese pufs with comté and dijon.