November 21, 2017
Trump's coming hard line on China
US President Donald Trump’s first visit to Beijing was an exhibition of mutual flattery. China rolled out the red carpet for what it termed a 'state visit plus', replete with unprecedented pomp and circumstance for an American leader.
Trump returned the favour with incessant fawning over Chinese President Xi Jinping, supplemented by extravagant admiration for China. 'Nothing you can see is so beautiful', he said of a full-dress Chinese military parade he witnessed in Beijing.
The mood contrasted sharply with Trump’s heated campaign rhetoric (recall his declaration 'We can't continue to allow China to rape our country'), eliciting a flood of analyses in the Western press that he had reversed course toward a softer approach to Beijing. China’s state-run media was all too happy to reinforce this message, billingthe summit as locking in a positive path for the US-China relationship.
Don’t count on it. Happy veneer aside, three factors at home are likely to drive the US toward a harder line on China in the months and years ahead. Call it the 'Three Ps'.
Read the full commentary in The Interpreter.
More from CNAS
-
Leverage the new US International Development Finance Corporation to compete with China
Commentary
The United States has a unique opportunity to up its game in the global economic competition with China. In early October, even as Democrats and Republicans in the Senate enga...
By Daniel Kliman
-
On GPS: The future of US-China relations
Video
Former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell breaks down the factions and relationships shaping US-China relations. View the full vide...
By Kurt Campbell
-
What is the end game with China?
Commentary
As President Trump prepares to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month, there is intense speculation about whether the two leaders will strike a deal over the ...
By Peter Harrell
-
The United States' Greatest Strength Over Russia and China is Its Alliance with Europe
Commentary
President Donald Trump has rightly recognized that America must do more to stand up to Chinese and Russian threats to U.S. interests. While most agree that having a national s...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Julianne Smith
