Analyst: Trump's handling of China policy like "a bull in a china shop"
China Watch |
Updated: 2018-05-21 09:40
Fan Jishe, director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Strategic Studies Institute of American Studies, said in a recent article that since former US president Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China, which began the normalization of ties between the two countries, the direction of relations has largely been led by the United States.
As China's overall strength grows, the future direction of relations should be decided by both countries, he said, adding that China and the US should not follow the Cold War model of US-Soviet Union relations, which has no winners.
In handling US-China relations, the Trump administration is like "a bull in a china shop" — its reckless and confrontational attitude cannot resolve differences and won't help foster healthy relations, according to Fan.
As China becomes more powerful, relations will become more competitive. The competition will not only appear in an economic sense, but also in policies related to regional and global issues.
This is unavoidable, he said, but if the US can better handle the differences between the two countries and prevent competition from evolving into confrontation, the competition will be a healthy one.
By contrast, if the US takes a tough stance without restraint, overlooking China's core interests, the economic competition might overflow to other fields, and the stable relations between China and the US, which have gradually developed over the past four decades, will be disrupted, Fan said.
Fan Jishe, director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Strategic Studies Institute of American Studies, said in a recent article that since former US president Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China, which began the normalization of ties between the two countries, the direction of relations has largely been led by the United States.
As China's overall strength grows, the future direction of relations should be decided by both countries, he said, adding that China and the US should not follow the Cold War model of US-Soviet Union relations, which has no winners.
In handling US-China relations, the Trump administration is like "a bull in a china shop" — its reckless and confrontational attitude cannot resolve differences and won't help foster healthy relations, according to Fan.
As China becomes more powerful, relations will become more competitive. The competition will not only appear in an economic sense, but also in policies related to regional and global issues.
This is unavoidable, he said, but if the US can better handle the differences between the two countries and prevent competition from evolving into confrontation, the competition will be a healthy one.
By contrast, if the US takes a tough stance without restraint, overlooking China's core interests, the economic competition might overflow to other fields, and the stable relations between China and the US, which have gradually developed over the past four decades, will be disrupted, Fan said.
