WORLD POLITICS
China v. the United States
Is Trump the wrong person for China-U.S. relations?
Kishore Mahbubani, an expert on geopolitics and international economic issues, wrote about the end of the Trump era in 2021 as follows:
“With that catharsis over, reason must return to American policymaking. What exactly did Trump accomplish with China? Did his administration’s policies raise America’s standing in the world, weaken China significantly, and lead to the progressive isolation of China from the vast majority of countries? The answer to all three questions is a resounding no. The reality is that the Trump administration’s policies on China damaged America’s standing, did no real harm to China, and did not arrest China’s growing trade and economic links with the rest of the world.”
Excerpt From
The Asian 21st Century
Kishore Mahbubani
This material may be protected by copyright.
Despite this gross failure and poor leadership, America is giving the guy another chance. China is stronger now because of the poor policy decisions from before. China also did not miss a beat. Anyone with any sense knows China is an ancient empire that has survived for thousands of years. It has been up and down, it has been occupied, and humiliated by other nations.
But right now, at the beginning of the 21st “Western” century, China is strong. It has superior leadership in Xi Jinping and its economy is resilient and dominant. America still has a great economy but China’s economy continues to perform well despite the economic sanctions imposed on it by various U.S. presidents (President Biden did not change Trump’s policies for example).
In fact, from the time that Trump took office, it was no contest in terms of the economies. The U.S. economy remains bigger, but it has not performed nearly as well, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Most specifically, the Trump tariffs did not affect China much at all. The U.S. economy was doing well when Trump entered office but soon collapsed.
Canada’s conservative businessman and politician Kevin O’Leary is so concerned about China’s resilient economy that he proposed that 400 percent tariffs be imposed on China. O’Leary and Trump are kind of cut from the same cloth.
As Kishore Mahbubani has written many times, China has always been around. It has always been a significant world player for most of its history. It did fall into a slack period for approximately 200 years but is now back as a serious world player, its familiar position in world history.
Here’s Mahbubani on China right now:
“In 1980, the economies of China and India were the same size. By 2020, China’s had grown five times larger. The longer-term relationship between two powers always depends, in the long run, on the relative size of the two economies…the United States presented China with a major geopolitical gift by withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement in 2017, India did China a major geopolitical favor by not joining the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Economics is where the big game is playing.”
Excerpt From
The Asian 21st Century
Kishore Mahbubani
This material may be protected by copyright.
It is not certain how this will play out. It is also not clear what China wants right away other than to continue to restore China on the world stage. China’s recent efforts in Peru and its efforts in geopolitics are strong stuff. It’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is the future as far as anyone can tell. No country is proposing or developing anything as ambitious or forward-thinking.
