CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

Trump to Beijing: Will He Loosen or Tighten the Gordian knot

Alexander the Great cuts the Gordian Knot by Jean-Simon Berthélemy (1743–1811)

In two weeks, President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will meet in Beijing, where they will have an unusual opportunity to ease the Cold War environment between their countries.  Xi is in a favorable political situation in view of Trump’s domestic and foreign policy failures.  Trump’s trade and tariff policies have weakened him at home, and the Iran War has compromised his credibility and influence abroad.

Trump has a weak national security team, and there is no indication that its members appreciate the necessity of stabilizing Washington’s most important bilateral relationship—the Sino-American relationship.  The United States and China are the two most important countries in the global arena.  They represent the two largest economies, the two largest defense establishments, and the two largest defense budgets.  The global community will not be able to deal with its greatest crises—the climate crisis and now the energy crisis—without the cooperation of the world’s two major polluters and biggest consumers of energy—the United States and China.

Trump has weakened U.S. relations with key Asian states, including Japan, South Korea, and Australia, while Xi Jinping recognizes the importance of playing a more stabilizing role with these key nations in the Indo-Pacific.  In the past year, China has softened its aggressive behavior in the region, improving relations with Japan, South Korea, and Australia.  China has also been offering debt relief to Asian countries.

Over the past several years, Xi used meetings with the late Henry A. Kissinger, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and Elon Musk to signal an awareness of the need to improve relations with Washington.  Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, sent........

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