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Trump and China: Much Ado About Nothing

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The Trump Presidency

Part of the book series: The Evolving American Presidency ((EAP))

Abstract

This chapter will look at Sino-American relations throughout the 2016 presidential campaign and Trump’s first year in office, with a particular focus on trade, security, environment and human rights issues. It will argue that despite much hype to the contrary, president Trump’s foreign policy towards China is conforming to pattern, constrained by domestic and international factors.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Remarks on Foreign Policy at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, 27 April 2016, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/index.php [accessed 1 May 2018].

  2. 2.

    New Conference, Florida, 27 July 2016, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/index.php [accessed 1 May 2018].

  3. 3.

    Remarks at Trump Soho in NYC, 22 June 2016, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/index.php [accessed 1 May 2018].

  4. 4.

    Trump’s tweets on 6 November 2012; 14 October 2014; and 17 November 2014.

  5. 5.

    Remarks at the Economic Club of NY at Waldorf Astoria, 5 September 2016, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/index.php [accessed 1 May 2018].

  6. 6.

    The communiqué was issued during President Richard M. Nixon’s historic visit to China and effectively established a “One China” policy whereby the USA did not formally recognise the Taiwanese government; Mark Landler and Jane Perlez, ‘Trump’s Call with Taiwan: A Diplomatic Gaffe or a New Start?’ The New York Times, 5 December 2016.

  7. 7.

    Michael Shear, ‘Trump Will Withdraw US from Paris Climate Agreement,’ The New York Times, 1 June 2017.

  8. 8.

    Mara Oliva, Eisenhower and American Public Opinion onChina (New York: Palgrave, 2018), pp. 15–16.

  9. 9.

    Ibid.; Evelyn Goh, Constructing the US Rapprochement withChina, 1961–1974 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009).

  10. 10.

    Michael Green, By More Than Providence: Grand Strategy and American Power in the Asia Pacific Since 1783 (New York: Columbia University Press, 2017), p. 439.

  11. 11.

    Nana de Graaff and Bastiaan van Apeldoorn, ‘US-China and the Liberal World Order: Contending Elites, Colliding Visions?’ International Affairs, 92 (2018), 113–31.

  12. 12.

    Green, By More Than Providence: Grand Strategy and American Power in the Asia Pacific Since 1783, p. 483.

  13. 13.

    Green, By More Than Providence: Grand Strategy and American Power in the Asia Pacific Since 1783, pp. 518–40; Campbell Kurt, The Pivot, the Future of American Statecraft in Asia (New York: Twelve, 2016); Badger Jeffrey, Obama andChina’sRise (Washington: Brookings Institution Press, 2012).

  14. 14.

    Executive Order 13783, 28 March 2017, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu [accessed 3 May 2018].

  15. 15.

    Evan Osnos, ‘Making China Great Again,’ The New Yorker, 8 January 2018, pp. 36–45.

  16. 16.

    ‘Is Rex Tillerson Destroying the State Department in Order to Save It?’ Vanity Fair, August 2017, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/08/rex-tillerson-state-department-reorganization.

  17. 17.

    The Hill, 30 January 2018—The Washington Post, 30 January 2018.

  18. 18.

    Davidson Adam, ‘Trump’s Muse on US Trade with China,’ The New Yorker, 12 October 2016, https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/trumps-muse-on-u-s-trade-with-china [accessed 25 April 2018].

  19. 19.

    ‘One China, Once Again: Donald Trump Grants China’s Fervent Wish,’ The Economist, 15 February 2017, https://www.economist.com/china/2017/02/13/donald-trump-grants-chinas-fervent-wish.

  20. 20.

    Quoted in Adam Entous and Evan Osnos, ‘Soft Target,’ The New Yorker, 29 January 2018, pp. 20–24.

  21. 21.

    Ibid.

  22. 22.

    Sarah Ellison, ‘The Inside Civil War Between Kushner and Bannon,’ Vanity Fair, April 2017, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/04/jared-kushner-steve-bannon-white-house-civil-war [accessed 3 February 2018].

  23. 23.

    ‘Xi Jingping and the Chinese Dream,’ The Economist, 4 May 2013, https://www.economist.com/leaders/2013/05/04/xi-jinping-and-the-chinese-dream [accessed 16 January 2018].

  24. 24.

    Robert Lawrence Khun, ‘Xi Jinping’s Chinese Dream,’ The New York Times, 4 June 2013, https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/05/opinion/global/xi-jinpings-chinese-dream.html [accessed 5 April 2018].

  25. 25.

    Evan Osnos, ‘Making China Great Again,’ The New Yorker, 8 January 2018, pp. 36–45.

  26. 26.

    ‘Trump: I Would Reconsider a Massive Pacific Trade Deal If It Were Substantially Better,’ https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/25/trump-says-he-would-reconsider-trans-pacific-partnership-trade-deal.html [accessed 1 May 2018].

  27. 27.

    Statement by President Trump on Paris Accord, 1 June 2017, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/statement-president-trump-paris-climate-accord/ [accessed 13 May 2018].

  28. 28.

    Ibid.

  29. 29.

    ‘China Emerges as Global Climate Leader in Wake of Trump’s Triumph,’ The Guardian, 22 November 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/nov/22/donald-trump-success-helps-china-emerge-as-global-climate-leader.

  30. 30.

    Rob Bailey, ‘What Trump’s Withdrawal from Paris Means for Global Climate Action,’ Chatham House Report, 2 June 2017, https://www.chathamhouse.org/expert/comment/what-trump-s-withdrawal-paris-means-global-climate-action [accessed 7 May 2018].

  31. 31.

    Ibid.

  32. 32.

    ‘Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Meeting with China’sXi Jinping Raises Ethics Concerns,’ CBS News, 6 April 2017, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/president-trump-china-xi-jinping-mar-a-lago-meeting-ethics-expert/ [accessed 7 May 2017].

  33. 33.

    ‘Trump Hails “Tremendous” Progress in Talks with China’s Xi,’ BBC News, 7 April 2017, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39517569 [accessed 7 May 2017].

  34. 34.

    Brian Klass, The Despot’s Apprentice, Donald Trump’s Attack on Democracy (London: Hurst & Company, 2017), p. 17.

  35. 35.

    Evan Osnos, ‘Making China Great Again,’ The New Yorker, 8 January 2018, pp. 36–45.

  36. 36.

    Ibid.

  37. 37.

    President Trump’s twitter account.

  38. 38.

    Evan Osnos, ‘Making China Great Again,’ The New Yorker, 8 January 2018, pp. 36–45.

  39. 39.

    Motoko Rich, ‘Trump’s Unpredictability on Trade and North Korea Opens a Door for China,’ The New York Times, 10 March 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/10/world/asia/china-north-korea-trump-tariffs.html.

References

  • Badger, Jeffrey. Obama and China’s Rise. Washington: Brookings Institution Press, 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, Kurt. The Pivot, the Future of American Statecraft in Asia. New York: Twelve, 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Graaff, Nana, and Bastiaan van Apeldoorn. “US-China and the Liberal World Order: Contending Elites, Colliding Visions?” International Affairs, 92 (2018): 113–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goh, Evelyn. Constructing the US Rapprochement with China, 1961–1974. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, Michael. By More Than Providence; Grand Strategy and American Power in the Asia Pacific Since 1783. New York: Columbia University Press, 2017.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klass, Brian. The Despot’s Apprentice, Donald Trump’s Attack on Democracy. London: Hurst & Company, 2017.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oliva, Mara. Eisenhower and American Public Opinion on China. New York: Palgrave, 2018.

    Google Scholar 

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Oliva, M. (2019). Trump and China: Much Ado About Nothing. In: Oliva, M., Shanahan, M. (eds) The Trump Presidency. The Evolving American Presidency. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96325-9_11

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