Why Trump and Xi Jinping’s ‘special relationship’ soured

A group of retired people exercise in a sports park second to Beijing’s Temple of Heaven’s red walls and bright blue tiles.

” I’m 74 and I hope this helps me live a long time”, one man says after he finishes his pull-ups, just as a cold wind blows leaf from pine trees across the park, disrupting another person who is mid-headstand. As they alternately hang from an behind assault course, ladies reach for gloves and sweaters.

This Ming dynasty divine site was again visited by Chinese emperors in a bid for a prosperous harvest. Then the area is used by visitors to enjoy their retirement after spending years contributing to China’s amazing progress.

They have witnessed their nation’s economic growth, which nips at the feet of the United States as the largest in the world, as their businesses expand.

But some worry what the claims of US president-elect Donald Trump– who has vowed rough tariffs on products made in China- means for the government’s export-driven business.

Also in the midst of a terrible trade dispute with China, then-President Trump asserted in 2020 that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping “love each other.”

For many in China, Trump is a number of joy and jokes of him dancing to the YMCA are shared widely on social media. Some people are concerned that he is too unstable.

Trump is unsteady, but I like him. Who knows what he might do”? The 74-year-old retiree, whose name has not been released, claims him.

People will undoubtedly become even more cautious as a result of some of Trump’s government choices, which were made public after his victory in the election.

Marco Rubio, his pull for Secretary of State, has called Beijing” the risk that may define this millennium”. Beijing has even approved of him. Mike Waltz, Trump’s option for national security adviser, wrote earlier this month that the US does “urgently” stop the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East so that it can “finally concentrate plan focus where it should be: countering the greater risk from the Chinese Communist Party.”

But China has been in education for a second Trump administration, says Jie Yue, a Senior Research Fellow on China at Chatham House, a London-based think tank.

She claims that despite the issue on the street, Beijing will not be surprised that he returned, even though she warns that when Trump takes office in January,” a roller-coaster type of relationship will develop.”

The competition between the two countries has been ramping up for some time, much before Trump won the election. Due to tariffs and political disagreements, which ranged from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to Taiwan’s future, the Biden administration made things particularly uncomfortable.

However, there was conversation when many older US officials visited Beijing.

President Xi has vowed to work with the incoming Trump administration, but he also used his next meeting with President Joe Biden to inform Washington that a “new cold war should not be fought and cannot be won”.

He continued,” It is foolish, unacceptable, and bound to fail” by containing China.

Beijing has long alleged that the US and its allies are attempting to incorporate China; they see laws banning China’s access to advanced AI cards, taxes targeting Chinese-made goods, and military relationships in the South China Sea and beyond as examples of this strategy.

And Trump’s decision to pick Rubio and Waltz suggests his presidency may “take a little stronger, muscular strategy with China”, says Lyle Morris from the Asia Society’s Centre for China Analysis.

Trump will probably rely on Waltz and Rubio to develop a more intense, unyielding policy toward China, even though he sees his individual relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping as a negotiation tool.

The majority of Americans do not agree with them, which is surprising to the average person in Beijing. They are not the only ones who view China as a threat to US surveillance and its business.

” You’re much better off here than in the US right today”, says the 74-year-old in the area before heading off to expand.

The Forbidden City, a place where Chinese rulers spent nearly 500 years, is located just northwest of the Temple of Heaven. It was here, in 2017, that Xi hosted Trump, bestowing on his host an honour never granted to any US leader since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China.

Trump was taken on a journey of the royal quarters by Xi, who had shut down the area and who had also conducted the broadcasting. After receiving chi dang meat for dinner, he received a movie of his daughter Arabella Kushner singing a Taiwanese song that went viral online.

It was billed by both as a great place in US-China relationships, but that immediately soured after the Covid epidemic broke out in Wuhan in 2019 and spread worldwide in 2020. Trump has referred to the pandemic as the” Foreign virus” on numerous occasions and attributed Beijing’s origins. Additionally, he started a tit-for-tat trade war, with tariffs still imposed on goods worth more than$ 300 billion ( £238 billion ).

When Trump starts his second word, he may be encountering a stronger Xi, who has cemented his place at China’s head with a traditional second term – and the possibility of remaining in power for living.

Washington is then concerned that it is expanding its nuclear arsenal because it has the largest army and navy in the world.

A new cunning fighter aircraft, the J35-A, was shown to Chinese media as Trump unveiled his new government, which was simultaneously broadcast from the biggest airshow. China is only the next country to enjoy two cunning soldiers in its inventory. The US is the different country. The J20-S, the second two-seat cunning warrior in history, was also on screen.

Last year, researchers at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California found satellite photographs that indicate China is working on nuclear propulsion for a new aircraft carrier.

According to Tong Zhao from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the studies” seriously concern Beijing’s possible adoption of a first-use method and increased nuclear threats,” which is fueled by strong support for the development of US nuclear capabilities in reaction.

It appears that the two countries are in danger of a much more powerful nuclear conflict with far-reaching implications for global stability unless Trump personally intervenes, which seems implausible.

In recent years, China has expanded more assertively in its regional says to Taiwan and the South China Sea under the command of Xi.

One concern is that Beijing is using force to invade Taiwan, which it perceives as a breakaway state that will ultimately fall under its purview. Under Trump and his case, had the US become willing to defend Taiwan?

Every US senator is asked this question. Trump has vowed to avoid it, saying that Xi knew he was” crazy” and that he would impose crippling tariffs on Chinese imports if that transpired.

Despite Trump’s inability to participate in international war, most researchers expect Washington to remain providing military aid to Taipei. For one, selling defensive arms to the beach is prohibited by law. The Trump presidency sold more weapons to Taiwan than any other country.

” There is strong bipartisan support for continuing military aid to Taiwan. According to Mr. Morris, I do n’t anticipate that Trump will significantly alter his mind regarding Taiwan’s arms sales.

These glaring variations away, Trump does seem to admire Xi’s heavyweight image. In a recent discussion with the Wall Street Journal, he said,” I had a very strong relationship with him.”

It’s difficult to know what Xi thinks because he rarely mentions Trump in his name and says very little about their marriage.

In 2018, Chinese state media Interpretation took immediate purpose at the British leader, and released an ugly video with the satirical title:” Thanks Mr Trump, you are excellent”! Eventually, the censors removed it.

However, both officials both project some sort of muscular patriotism. Xi’s desire is the “great regeneration of the Chinese state” and Trump believes only he can “make America excellent again”. Both of them make it clear that their nations are moving toward a new golden age.

Trump’s “golden years” for America includes 60 % tariffs on Chinese-made products.

But Beijing is in no mood for a minute business battle. It has its own problems.

President Xi’s vision of success is in danger. China’s economy is weak, its real estate industry is declining, roughly 20 % of its younger people are finding it hard to find employment, and its population is rapidly aging.

The Temple of God has some of this financial suffering. We join the hundreds of Chinese tour parties walking through white stone walls. Young people now wear Qing dynasty outfits, but their lengthy silk robes frequently fail to hide the other big trend, chunky white trainers.

As a line forms around the altar to make a wish, hundreds of school groups are paying attention to the guides ‘ explanations of their colorful past. I watch as a middle-aged woman dressed in black takes her turn. She turns three times, clasps her hands, closes her eyes, and gazes up at the sky. Later, we inquire what she had in mind. She says many people come here and ask for their children to get jobs or to get into a good school.

She says,” We wish for better prospects and lives.” While China asserts that it has eradicated extreme poverty, millions of factory workers and laborers in other parts of the nation will be concerned about the future.

Her future and the future of China’s economy may partly depend on just how serious Trump is about his tariffs. Beijing is prepared this time, according to Yu Jie.

China has already started expanding its exports to non-US allies and diversifying its sources of agricultural imports ( particularly from Brazil, Argentina, and Russia ). At a domestic level, the recent local government debt recapitalisation is also paving the way to offset the negative impacts on the likely trade war with the Trump Administration”.

Beijing may have a second chance as well. Elon Musk, a billionaire, now appears to be listening to Donald Trump. His company, Tesla, depends on China for production- about half of all its EVs are made in the country. Chinese leaders might wonder if Musk can stifle Trump’s economic inclinations.

However, the great power conflict of the twenty-first century is not limited to trade. Xi’s dream also involves making China the world’s dominant power.

According to some experts, this might be an opportunity for Beijing if Trump were to win the presidency.

” Chinese leaders will reinforce the narrative that the US is the single and most disruptive source of global instability, while portraying China as a responsible and confident world power”, says Yu Jie.

In an effort to encircle China, Biden spent four years establishing friendships across Asia with countries like South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

These US alliances have been isolated and weakened by Trump’s” America-first” policy in the past. He opted for deals over delicate diplomacy and often put a price tag on America’s friendships. For instance, he demanded more money from South Korea in 2018 to keep US troops stationed there.

Beijing has already established partnerships with emerging markets. It is also trying to repair its relationship with the UK and Europe, while mending historical grievances with Asian neighbours, South Korea and Japan.

It might be a win for President Xi if Washington’s influence declines globally.

Back at the park, as we discuss the results of the US election, one man holds up four fingers. He claims that he has only four years left. ” The US’s leaders are constantly changing. In China, we have more time”.

Beijing is indeed moving in the right direction. Xi has the option of serving as president for life and has the means to work toward his objectives slowly but steadily.

Even if Trump does get in the way, it will not be for long.

Getty Images is the source of the image’s top photo.

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