The 12th round of the Sino-US high-level trade talks in Shanghai in July ended with the US calling them "constructive". But that hard-won positivity did not last long, with the US leader announcing the imposition of additional tariffs the next day.

To justify the new tariffs he accused China of failing to honor its promise to buy more US agricultural products and of not taking measures to prevent fentanyl from flowing into the United States.

While saying that he hoped to hold an active dialogue with China to reach a comprehensive trade agreement, and that the future of Sino-US relations was very bright, the US leader also aired the unfounded conjecture that China hopes the 2020 US presidential election picks a Democrat president such as Joe Biden, in what he claimed was the mistaken belief that would mean a softer US approach to China.

Then on Aug 5, the US government abruptly - and falsely-announced that China was a currency manipulator, triggering volatility in the global stock markets. Now, it must be asked: What is the US leader up to at this critical moment?

The answer is clear: He is trying hard to maximize his votes, believing that such words and deeds will help him win the 2020 presidential election.

Given the intensified political polarization in the US, a tough stance against China is supposed to be a popular stance with some voters. And, some US politicians have begun to exhibit more worries and fears about China, thinking that Sino-US ties have changed from mutual benefit to a zero-sum game.

This in turn has led them to think that they should stand on the commanding heights of safeguarding national security. Therefore, to be tough against China seems to have become a new political correctness in the US.

Reflecting this, 130 former senior government officials, veterans and scholars jointly issued an open letter to support the US administration's hard line policy toward China, and tried to hype up a "China threat" and "Chinese aggression". Now with the presidential election approaching, it seems "safe" for the US leader to be tough on China.

He has also directly linked the Sino-US economic and trade consultations to the Democratic candidate's presidential campaigning, thus politicizing economic and trade issues in disputes between the two US parties.

Faced with more advantageous Democratic candidates and "shakey" mid-western voters, the US leader is presenting himself up as the first one who dares to alter the "unfair reality" between China and the US, hoping this will help him keep his core voters and win new ones.

As part of this, he has portrayed Biden and his followers as representing weak hands against China, and even labeled the Democratic candidates as socialists. This is the way the US leader tries to attract support to his campaign.

In order to hold on to his core voters, the US leader is putting maximum pressure on China, particularly concerning its purchase of agricultural products and fentanyl in the US. The background is quite clear: He entered the White House in 2016 with the support of US farmers, but these supporters have suffered heavy losses in the trade frictions, and he has promised to end the opioid crisis in the US.

In 2018 alone, US exports of soybeans to China declined by 50 percent. Given the reliance of US farmers on the Chinese market, the US leader's promise of $16 billion compensation looks a hollow one, not at all offsetting the imposed tariffs. This has given rise to growing criticism of the US administration's stance by US farmers.

The US administration is of course eager to make China buy US agricultural products, in the hope that it will ease political pressure and avoid them losing their core voters.

Meanwhile, the prominent opioid crisis is due mainly to domestic social and economic factors, such as excessive use of analgesics by blue-collar workers losing confidence in the future.

The US leader seems to have pinned all his election hopes on China as he is making a tough stance against China serve him as a panacea for all the problems in the US.

Moreover, the US administration has been misled into believing that the Chinese economy is also facing great challenges owing to the global economic downturn and this is the best time for them to extort gains by pressing China harder.

In short, the US leader's aim is to turn the Sino-US economic and trade consultation into a "big show "that attracts public attention and increases his campaign capital, as his administration's three years have not won him the plaudits he desires and needs.

In fact, some of his initiatives have proved to be rather questionable at home and abroad.

History will eventually bear out the truth that it won't work for the US administration to try to take advantage of Sino-US trade frictions to aid the US leader's reelection.

The future may well prove the correctness of what some in the US have observed: Indeed, for more than half a century the US has not seen a real rival, but now China proves to be a formidable heavyweight.

The author is a researcher and deputy director of the Department of External Affairs at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE). 

The author contributed this article to China Watch exclusively. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of China Watch.

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