The News
US President-elect Donald Trump is doubling down on his hawkish stance toward China with his projected White House appointments.
Relations between the two powers have markedly deteriorated in recent years as Washington has curbed China’s access to cutting-edge technology and complained of Chinese expansionism in the South China Sea.
Trump’s choices for his team — he is reportedly eyeing Florida Sen. Marco Rubio as Secretary of State and former Green Beret Mike Waltz for national security adviser — along with his threat of blanket 60% tariffs on Chinese goods suggest ties with Beijing may worsen further.
SIGNALS
Rubio and Waltz’s positions reflect a bipartisan belligerence toward China
While the potential appointments of Rubio and Waltz underline the upcoming administration’s hawkish approach to China, the two are not more “out there” than others in Washington, which has become “far more aggressive” toward China on a bipartisan level, CNN’s chief national security analyst argued. China is perceived as the US’ biggest national security threat and the current administration has taken a hard stance, so in that respect, “President Joe Biden will just be passing the baton back to Trump,” Foreign Policy noted. However, on certain issues — like sky-high tariff proposals — and in terms of “overall style,” Trump will be different, and his cabinet appointments may end up having significant sway on his decisions, the outlet added.
Beijing is already working to protect itself
Perhaps expecting “an America that may shut it out,” China has been racing to win over US allies by way of reduced levies, investments, and other incentives, The Wall Street Journal reported. It may also benefit from resolving its disputes with Europe, as both struggle with ailing economies and face the prospect of Trump’s protectionism: “No one wants to return to the law of the jungle, no one wants to go back to the era of confrontation and the Cold War, and no one wants to return to unilateral hegemony,” the Chinese foreign ministry’s deputy head said. Domestically, more measures to support growth and increase demand may be needed, an economist told the South China Morning Post.
Trump’s ‘vitriol and suspicion’ may be hurting the US’ advantage over China
Trump’s rhetoric of “vitriol and suspicion” and the widening trade and ideological war that began when he first took office eight years ago are causing the long-standing soft power the US held in China to dwindle, creating a deeper-than-ever division between the two countries that could escalate tensions, Bloomberg noted. In China, that’s exemplified by a growing preference for local brands over American ones, increased government propaganda and censorship to shut out American ideas, and general disillusionment with the US as a global superpower. “The US was like a light bulb — a shining example for development and governance,” an expert on China policy said. “Now, that bulb’s busted.”