Trump's China Policy: Expect anything, any time from him
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ISLAMABAD - China has been focusing on ‘Making China Great Again’ for the past four decades. It is rapidly growing
economically and its influence is not just limited to Asia but Europe and Africa too. During cold war, the
way USA created Marshall Plan to help European states and to keep them under its influence, China’s
One Belt One road Initiative (OBOR) is following the same pattern.
China has started different economic
projects with its neighboring states because now it understands the importance of attaining strategic
support from its neighbors if it wants to get role of leading world power. Like countries who depend for
security purposes on US, they now depend economically on China. On the other hand, we see that
President Trump shares the same ambition of making America great again.
It seems that both the leader
of these two states suggests that their state has declined and they will be the one to help their
respective state in restoring the top position but at the expense of other.
We saw that when President Trump took the office it was believed that US China relations will get worse
because of his statements he made during his presidential campaigns against China in which he
criticized China for raping US economy and labeling it as country’s enemy.
But now we can observe the
transformation in his policy towards China favoring friendly relations between two which were strained
during Obama administration. There could be multiple reasons behind changing its strategy towards
China.
We know that Trump is a businessman and previously he was not a part of political establishment so he
does not possess that cold war mentality and ideology which makes him not to fear much with China’s
economic rise. Maybe he understands now that improving relations with China will favor US interests.
Without Chinese cooperation “America First” policy of Trump will not achieve success. One reason could
be maintaining dollar’s status as international currency as China’s huge foreign reserves are mainly in
dollars. Second Trump’s “America First” policy was not warmly welcomed by its traditional allies and
drew domestic criticism, so in order to compensate he attempted to make breakthroughs with China.
Other reason could be the way China handled Trump calmly even after facing criticism and convinced US
and world that China’s rise is peaceful and will contribute to world’s prosperity and development.
Yet there exist strong disagreements and divergence among them. Where President Trump wants to
build walls, the Chinese President seems to be obsessed with building bridges. But North Korean issue is
at the top which is a big obstacle in developing trust between them. North Korea’s proliferation of
atomic energy, formation of two ballistic missiles and carrying hydrogen bomb with the range to hit USA
has threatened the whole region along with USA.
Trump has criticized China that they are doing nothing
in order to discourage North Korea’s nuclear proliferation. Trump on his visit to China urged Chinese
president to “act faster and more effectively”. He believes that North Korea has a backing of China and
that’s the reason China is not doing what US wants (maybe he’s right). Although China supported
sanctions over North Korea but they did not do sufficient to abandon North Korea and to satisfy USA.
Apart from their alliance since cold war, North Korea depends largely on China for food and fuel. China
fears North Korea’s regime collapse more than it fears nuclear armed North Korea because the collapse
Kim Jong Un regime will result in the streaming of millions of refugees into China.
President Trump on his Asia tour, praised and admired China and his President Xi Jin Ping who emerged
as the undisputed president of China from Communist Party Congress in October. He realized that it is
important to have personal connections and good relations with Chinese president in order to fulfill its
interests that can be achieved through China. The purpose of the visit for Trump was not to come back
home having numerous trade deals in hand but to convince China over North Korea issue. USA can
never use the trick of flattery to make China agree to their demands.
Chinese President Xi Jin Ping is fully
determined to make China great again and has set forth some non-negotiable interests which clearly
sends message to Trump that on which areas he can bring China on his side and on which he cannot.
China will not indulge itself in any conflict which will benefit USA and will hamper Chinese progress to
rise. Just like USA and other states, national interests are and will remain China’s top priority.
It is evident that both states are not going to wage a war against each other and the chances of new cold
war between them is minimal in the era of globalization due to their high economic interdependence.
On the trip to China by President Trump, it was reassured by both Presidents that through extensive
collaboration and cooperation, the problems and issues that exists among them can be solved. But one
should not forget the unpredictable nature of President Trump which is doing less good to USA. He kept
the world uncertain about his long term strategy towards China which a good relation demands. While
on other side, his erratic nature makes China to be prepared all time and expect anything at any time
from him!
Written by: Zainab Nawaz Abbasi
