China Wary Of President Donald Trump

By Sara Hsu

President Donald Trump and Vice president Mike Pence at Trump International Golf Clubin Bedminster Township, New Jersey earlier this month.

Despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s popularity among some ordinary Chinese, Chinese policy makers and media are wary of his proposed policies on trade and climate change. 

While they have been for the most part loath to speak out before the results of the election were final, a number of recent comments reveal that China’s leadership has reservations about Trump’s presidency.
Trump has threatened to impose tariffs of 45% on imported Chinese goods and renege on free trade deals. 

In response, Xinhua, China’s state-backed media, recently published an op/ed warning that Donald Trump’s trade protectionist policies could harm economic growth in the U.S. and the rest of the world, and dash attempts by Asian nations to create an inclusive trade deal. 

The article states: “in exactly two months’ time, Trump will be at the helm of the world’s largest economy. Turning his trade-bashing campaign talks into actual policies could bash any hope that the Asia-Pacific will finally have its much-wanted free trade deal.”
The “much-wanted free trade deal” is not, by the way, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which excludes China. 

Instead, it is the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (sponsored by APEC, of which the U.S. is a member of). 

Xi Jinping met with Vladimir Putin at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in Lima, Peru on Saturday and both countries are pushing for the deal.
Trump may attempt to stop it from going through by refusing to ratify the agreement (U.S. ratification is required) – if his anti-free trade statements are any indication of his future actions.
And this wouldn’t just be a blow to China. 

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key stated at the recent APEC summit, “even if the United States doesn’t want to engage in free trade, President Trump needs to know other countries do.”
Donald Trump has also stated that China is the single greatest currency manipulator that’s ever been on this planet.

In response, the state-backed Global Times published an editorial on November 13 stating that “Trump’s accusations against China for currency manipulation cannot hold water. If he does list China as a currency manipulator and slap steep tariffs on Chinese imports, China will take countermeasures.” 

This will have the impact of increasing appreciation pressure on the RMB, leading to tensions between the U.S. and China.
The President has even attributed climate change as an invention by the Chinese. 

China’s vice foreign minister Liu Zhenmin fired back this past week saying “if you look at the history of climate change negotiations, actually it was initiated by the IPCC with the support of the Republicans during the Reagan and senior Bush administration during the late 1980s,” repudiating Trump’s accusation.
Also underlining this point, Xie Zhenhua, head of the State Environmental Protection Administration recently stated about Trump’s promise to cancel the U.S. end of the Paris Climate Agreement, “no matter leaders from which country, they need to be in line with global development trends. People would not support their leader when he goes against the trend.” 

No surprise then that China intends to honor the commitment, whether the U.S. drops out of the Paris Climate Agreement or not.
Xi Jinping himself appears to hold a cautious view of Trump. 

In a phone call between the two on November 14, Xi reportedly said, “cooperation is the only correct choice for China and the U.S.” 

It is significant that Xi felt he had to make this comment, in light of Trump’s many criticisms of China. 

Understatement dominates Chinese rhetoric and confrontational discussion is generally off limits, particularly in the political realm. 

This statement is as close as Xi gets to calling out Trump’s lambasting of China and anti-globalization views.