Western civilization vs. Chinese barbarity

President Trump stresses his desire for warmer ties with Russia, while steadily bashing China

By Nicole Gaouette

A battle between Chinese despotism and the forces of Western civilization

Washington -- President Donald Trump has been playing global favorites on Twitter.
He has showered praise on Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling him "very smart!," and dismissed charges that Moscow tried to hack the election process -- even as he's bashed China for currency manipulation, skewing trade and failing to rein in North Korea.
It's unusual enough for a president to try to sway foreign policy before he's in office, let alone in 140-character bursts. 

While Trump aides have said some of his statements shouldn't be taken "literally," the tweets offer insight to his foreign policy views and raise a question: When both China and Russia are challenging US power globally, why does he favor Moscow and not Beijing?
Trump's positions on Russia and China mark a sharp turn from current policies -- and that might to the point. 

Trump and much of the Republican establishment have made clear they aim to dismantle Barack Obama's "legacy". 

Trump is also looking to use international relations in pursuit of economic ends.
Some analysts point to the possibility that Trump is taking a deeply strategic approach; others say he simply fails to understand the crucial importance of long-standing US alliances. 

At the least, it is an approach that contrasts with dovish Obama, who has tried to find areas of common interest with China and to isolate Russia for a series of international violations.

Russia has conducted a stealth invasion of Ukraine, annexed Crimea and is believed to have supplied the missile that brought down Malaysian Airlines flight MH17, shot down over Ukraine in 2014.
Moscow has supported Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his country's civil war, including in the bombing of civilians in Aleppo.

The Russian military has buzzed US aircraft and ships. 

And the US intelligence community found with "high confidence" that Russia was behind hacking during the presidential election campaign meant to sow doubts about American democracy.
And yet Trump speaks warmly of Putin and his desire for better cooperation with Russia, publicly dismissing the hacking allegations and accusing the intelligence community of acting politically.

Russian officials have said they were in contact with the Trump campaign throughout the election.

Matt Rojansky, head of the Kennan Institute at the Wilson Center, said one reason could be Trump's belief that the US should do more work with Russia to defeat terrorism and his view of that challenge as a "civilizational battle between radical Islam and, broadly speaking, the forces of Western civilization."
Trump and his aides, particularly his national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, are much more comfortable including Russia under the Western civilization umbrella than Republicans such as Arizona Sen. John McCain and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, Rojansky said. 

That will cause friction, possibly sooner rather than later.

If Trump's stance on Russia might fray some of his alliances in Congress, he's already put European allies on edge with his warmth toward Putin and questions about the worth of NATO. 

He's also unnerved Asian allies by questioning the cost of helping Japan and South Korea defend themselves.

Some analysts have suggested Trump is practicing a sophisticated version of the "triangular diplomacy" former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and President Richard Nixon used to play the Soviet Union and China off against each other in the 1970s.
But the two nations are no longer bitter enemies and instead have a well-defined, if mutually wary, relationship.
China has targeted the US with cyberattacks. 

Beijing has pushed US companies in China to give up proprietary technology, it has contested US claims to freedom of navigation through Asian waters, its military has buzzed US naval vessels and Air Force jets, and it recently stole a US underwater drone.

If Trump seems to look the other way on Russian transgressions, China gets no free pass.
The President often charges that Beijing steals American jobs with unfair trade practices. 

"China has been taking out massive amounts of money and wealth from the U.S. in totally one-sided trade, but won't help with North Korea. Nice!" he tweeted Monday. 

Soon after winning the presidency, he antagonized Beijing by holding a phone conversation with Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen.
Trump has long made China a bogeyman, accusing it in a 2012 tweet of having created the concept of global warming in order to make US manufacturing non-competitive. 

He has particularly fixated on China's economic practices, blasting it on trade and currency throughout the presidential race and blaming it for the loss of American jobs. 

Trade and job losses were central rallying cries of his campaign.