How Trump has made China even stronger
China has now taken on the title of defender and champion of globalisation thanks to Trump.
Trump, in his endless wisdom, has actually created the perfect conditions for China to accelerate itself into a far more favourable strategic position than it was in before 2016.
'Mr. Trump’s go-it-alone approach has given China an opening to portray itself as the champion of globalization. In Beijing’s argument, it is the United States that has now retreated by trying to restrict Chinese investments.'
'China is not only trying to capitalize on American political disarray but also to repair the damage that the pandemic has caused to China’s image, especially in Europe.'
'“The United States is still in electoral chaos, while China is forming the world’s largest trade agreement,” the Ministry of Commerce in Beijing wrote on its official website recently.'
'State media has struck a similar chord, trumpeting China as the defender of the global order. An opinion article by the state broadcaster CGTN was blunt, warning that those who would cut off links with China “are likely to end up on the outside of the world’s economic gravity.”'
'China’s strategy is born out of strength. The coronavirus has practically disappeared within its borders. The country’s economy is growing strongly. And China’s manufacturing sector has become the world’s largest by a wide margin, leaving other nations heavily dependent on it for everything from medical gear to advanced electronics.'
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'Mr. Xi wants to tether other countries ever more tightly into China’s economic and thus geopolitical orbit. In a speech to other Chinese leaders, recently published by a Communist Party journal, he called for Beijing to make sure that other countries remained dependent on China for key goods, as a way to ensure that they would not try to halt their own shipments to China.'
'Mr. Xi’s own economic and political policies this year have been the mirror opposite. China’s plan, Mr. Xi has said, is to lessen dependence on imports, insulating the country from rising external risks, including the threat of a long, pandemic-induced global economic downturn and the severing of Chinese access to American high-tech know-how.'
Steven Lee Myers
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