Donald Trump’s histrionic threat last week to “cut off the whole relationship” with China produced a scornful response from Beijing. “Such lunacy is a clear byproduct of the anxiety the US has suffered since China began its global ascent,” the Global Times, the Chinese government’s mouthpiece, commented. The “Washington elites” were in a panic over the pandemic, it claimed.
While the tone was unfortunate, neither assertion wholly lacked truth. The US and its western allies do have concerns – some legitimate, some exaggerated – about China’s rise to superpower status. And the mishandling of the Covid-19 crisis by Trump, who appears increasingly unbalanced, makes China’s president, Xi Jinping, look undeservedly competent by comparison.
Trump’s threat, as foolish as it is impractical, typified the irrational behaviour of the US leader. His target was no surprise. Trump and his “America first” acolytes have long contended that China is ripping off America by indulging in unfair trade practices, stealing its commercial secrets and destroying manufacturing jobs.
In current jargon, they want to “decouple”, and this process – the Chinese call it “suppression” – is now accelerating. Higher tariffs on Chinese imports, and controls on hi-tech US exports and Chinese inward investment, were extended last week to include new measures targeting the telecoms giant, Huawei. A compromise trade deal agreed earlier this year is in jeopardy. » | Observer editorial | Sunday, May 17, 2020
