"Most Republicans and many Trump-administration officials believe that the stakes of America's competition with China are all but existential. Apparently, Donald Trump is not among them. The president talks about China as an economic rival but rarely as a strategic one-a view neatly encapsulated by his decision last month to ease export controls on advanced chips, which granted Beijing a boost in the AI race in exchange for a cut of the resulting sales."
"Now Trump seems to fear doing anything that might jeopardize the prospects of a summit and trade deal with China's leader, Xi Jinping. On Truth Social this week, the president said that he'll be speaking with Xi on Friday and suggested that a deal on TikTok was imminent. He concluded the post by asserting that his relationship with Xi "remains a very strong one!!!""
"Trump world has long disagreed on how to deal with China. In Trump's first term, for example, then-National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster produced a strategy that centered on competition with China and Russia. Even while introducing that plan, however, Trump emphasized the need to build a "great partnership" with Beijing and Moscow. China hawks nevertheless made progress, succeeding in adding Chinese technology firms to America's trade blacklist and banning investment in companies with links to China's military, among other measures."
Many Republican officials view the U.S. competition with China as existential, while President Trump treats China mainly as an economic rival and downplays strategic threats. He eased export controls on advanced chips, giving Beijing advantages in AI while enabling U.S. companies to share in sales. Trump appears focused on securing a summit and trade deal with Xi Jinping, signaling a potential TikTok agreement and asserting a strong personal relationship. Hawks who pushed blacklists and investment bans were influential in Trump's first term but have been sidelined in his second administration. Congressional TikTok divestiture mandates were repeatedly delayed by the president.
Read at The Atlantic
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]