Ever since Donald Trump became a candidate in the 2016 presidential election, he has been making controversial statements about China. This leads some experts to believe that he may well spoil the bilateral relations with China, escalating the situation all the way up to a serious confrontation.
Trump is not the only person criticizing China. His administration mostly supports him. Experts remind us about Trump’s statements about China raping the USA with a huge surplus in their trade relations. Trump threatens to fine China with the help of import duties. Another serious move making the bilateral relation tense was Trump’s conversation with the new president of Taiwan, which is a disputable territory for China (China still considers Taiwan to be a Chinese territory). The previous American presidents preferred to avoid setting relations with Taiwan for many years for the sake of avoiding spoiled relations with China.
With this single phone call, President Trump gave China to understand that Washington’s previous policy of recognizing “One China” is now questioned. Give the harsh statements made in Chinese media, Chine may seriously consider a confrontation with the USA.
Even though China seems to give Donald Trump some time to clarify his stance on multiple issues related to the bilateral relations between the 2 super-powers, they seem to be getting ready for various scenarios. For China, if President Trump and his administration change their attitude to the “One China” policy, this is definitely going to be the last straw that breaks the camel’s back.
The essence of this policy is that the USA doesn’t have any relations with Taiwan and allows China to represent “One China”. If the USA dares ship new jet fighters to Taiwan, this is going to spoil the relations with China. It appears that China has a lot of counter-measures. According to local experts, the USA should think twice and estimate potential losses from this unwise move before taking any serious action. China is not what it used to be in the 1980s-1990s. This is a superpower and the world’s second-biggest economy after the USA. This is the worst-case scenario, so let’s hope both superpowers will find a common language.
