What will the relationship between President Trump and China look like?

0:00 Speaker 1 With us today is Gordon g Chang and one smart guy, one good friend and an expert in in the Far East in China, Gordon, A lot of things are happening, a lot of moving parts right now. The Trump administration became is in charge. Give us your reading of what do you think is happening with China and the future

0:24 relationship between Trump and China.

0:29 Speaker 2 I think the Chinese right now have to be extremely concerned, John, because you have two China Hawks. You have Senator Marco Rubio who has been nominated to be Secretary of State, and Congressman Michael Waltz nominated to be or who will be chosen as the National Security Advisor. These our people who have a deep understanding of China, and they understand

0:54 that China is out to get us, and they’re not all about to let that happen. At this point. I think Beijing understands that the political landscape in Washington has changed. It’s no more Henry Kissinger. Kissinger was very friendly with China, tried to build those bridges between Beijing and Washington, and while he did so, he was sugarcoating what the Chinese

1:16 were doing. That is no longer acceptable in a Trump administration, so we’ll see a new approach, and I think we’re going to see something better because the old approach clearly wasn’t working.

1:27 Speaker 1 Absolutely is Trump from Did they always get along? Between Trump and Seat?

1:37 Speaker 2 I think President Trump, like all new presidents, tried to build a relationship with China. Every president gives Beijing a grace period. But President Trump learned very quickly that the Chinese were not talking with him in good faith. And that’s why I think that in his second term he’s going to be much less forgiving. And that’s important because

2:01 now time is a critical factor. We’re seeing all sorts of things occur around the world. China’s waging proxy wars on three continents, and at this moment, we don’t have a moment to lose.

2:14 Speaker 1 Understood, they are waging, We’re on three continents, and the Biden administration allowed China to just about do whatever they wanted to do. And the Biden administration did that what I ran, So I think the big you know story is going to be I ran in China.

2:35 Speaker 2 Yes, people are saying that there are these unusual earthquakes in the northern part of Iran, and that could very well be natural but on the other hand, it could also be a detonation of nuclear devices or the detonation of explosives that are necessary for nuclear devices. So we’ve got to be extremely concerned that Iran is on the

2:57 doorstep if it doesn’t already have an atomic weapon, and that means it changes the Middle East, because then you have a regime in Iran that could certainly lash out take us by surprise, and a regime that might not prize stability. Most nuclear powers prize stability. It’s not clear that the Iranian regime would also take that approach.

3:20 Speaker 1 And I’m sure that Trump administration would look very carefully at China intruding on I guess the Philippines or Taiwan.

3:33 Speaker 2 Yes, you know, there’s been a Trump effect already, John, just before the election and up to about now, China has been uncharacteristically quiet in its peripheral seas and peripheral airspace, and I attribute that to a number of factors. One of them is that they are these extraordinary social developments in China where the Chinese people are going on these

3:55 bike rides, which the regime abhors by by one hundred thousand or so every night. Also, there’s turmoil in the Chinese military. But the most important thing is I think Beijing is trying to give President Trump a wide birth, doesn’t want to take him on, doesn’t want to rile him before he takes the yoath of office. And so

4:15 therefore we have this very welcome period of quiet. How long it will last, I don’t know, of course, But the point here is that Trump is already having a good effect on the world.

4:28 Speaker 1 Absolutely any other comments this today and before we call it a day.

4:40 Speaker 2 The important thing is what’s happening inside China itself. Its economy is stumbling. It’s not growing at the four point six percent pace they claim for the third quarter. It may not even be growing at all. But even if we’re growing fast, it’s not growing fast enough to pay back debt. C Jmping is going to be subject to

4:58 tremendous internal pressures, and that could force him to go and attack a neighbor. So right now, maintaining deterrence is a very is more important than usual and very well. We may not be driving events because it may be what’s happening inside of that country understood well.

5:18 Speaker 1 Gordon G. Chang and your Twitter at Gordon G. Chang you get use twenty four to seven. Thank you so much, and we’ll catch up again soon.

5:30 Speaker 2 Thank you so much, John, I really appreciate it.