Donald Trump knows how to change gears when dealing with America’s friends and foes.
Donald Trump did a whirlwind visit to China, where he brought the cream of the American CEO crop. Who didn’t try to get a selfie with Elon Musk who visited with one of his children? The president was shown respect that neither Obama nor Biden ever received. While one would think that strong leaders like President Xi (the guy who got rid of the 2 x 5 year presidency respected by all of his predecessors) like weak leaders of their enemies, the truth is often quite the opposite. An Obama/Gordon Brown or Biden/Starmer weak-weak arrangement worked out because each one was a loser and did not feel threatened by the other. When a strong leader deals with a weaker one, he often does not know if the other other fellow can deliver the goods. Xi knows that Trump can get stuff done, so dealing with him is dealing with the United States. The praise Xi heaped on Trump and the US at the official state dinner was extraordinary.
There are many reasons not to like China or its behavior. An incomplete list would include the following:
- Abuse of World Trade Organization membership
- Currency manipulation
- Making North Korea a nuclear state
- Endlessly threatening to take Taiwan
- Intellectual property theft
- Closed markets to US goods
- Taking and militarizing islands that don’t belong to China
- Buying US farmland too close to military installations
- Supporting Iran and Russia
- Locking up dissidents
- Using their commercial cars and drones to spy on the West
This list is by no means exhaustive. During my sole visit to China, I found police and soldiers to be everywhere. The security at the train stations was greater than Israel has at Ben Gurion Airport. We weren’t encouraged to walk around by ourselves, and like the president and his staff, we left our phones at home and brought older models just to stay in touch. Every Chinese company is an extension of the Chinese government. Many students and foreign scholars in the West have the same status. China is no friend of the United States, however much trade exists between the countries. And just as Donald Trump and his people did not bring their phones or laptops, they disposed of any and everything given to them during their brief visit to the Chinese capital. I don’t recall a similar protocol of throwing everything out prior to flying home. That says everything one needs to know (and bringing food from the US) about the level of trust that Washington has for Beijing.
Recommended
With all of the above in mind, The US still has to deal with China. There are enemies like Cuba and Venezuela that can be handled with minimal invasive action. Then there are enemies like Iran that are big enough and militarily strong enough that it takes some time to deal with them. Then there is China. She has nuclear weapons and also has dreams of passing the US for world economic and military leadership. And that’s where the problem always is. For all of the nice talk about working together, the world being better when cooperating, etc., the Chinese—or communists at large—never hold up their end of the bargain. It is a relief to hear President Xi talk about the US and China doing good things together, but when the rubber hits the road, the Chinese continue with everything listed above. Israel has banned Chinese electric cars from air force bases because they understand that those cars spy. The British concluded that such cars spied on top ministers. The Chinese making US products and then continuing with their own knock-offs is not going to end. Chinese aggression towards its neighbors will not be a thing of the past. And they are not going to take North Korea’s nuclear weapons away as a sign of good will. In short, while the words and probably the food were lovely, China remains a competitive foe of the United States.
And Donald Trump played them like a fiddle. He did not come in a combative or threatening manner. Rather, he praised China and Xi to high heaven. He brought along his top associates and the power group of American CEOs. He knows that China, like the Soviet Union, will collapse from within. It will not be destroyed militarily. Fighting China is not a slam dunk. While their technology may not be as good as its Western competition (as suggested from some purported failures in the Iranian theater), it has the numbers and the will to fight. So instead of going kinetic, Donald Trump is going empathetic: let’s be friends, let’s do deals, come visit me in September…. All the while, China has some serious problems on its ledgers:
- The one child policy has been a disaster and the country will in a few years need to import workers.
- The country’s real estate sector is in crisis
- Without the US market, Chinese workers will be unemployed and not very happy
- Corruption and China both begin with the letter “C”
- The Belt And Road program has created a lot of bad will from the third-world clients who owe Beijing a fortune
- China used to buy 90% of Iran’s oil. All gone.
China is not going away any time soon and the thought of some type of internal rebellion seems far-fetched. But economic gravity and military corruption will show that the emperor is wearing Temu underwear. The Chinese never advertise their failings or weaknesses, but that does not mean that they do not exist. And just as the Soviet Union collapsed from its failed program, China may find that it can no longer move forward with too few workers and more expensive raw materials and energy. Donald Trump realizes that he cannot defeat China militarily, but if he can wait them out, their own internal problems may get the best of them. Would China still want to attack Taiwan after witnessing the incredible success of American weapons and platforms in the Iran War?
As to Iran the enemy, they still don’t understand Donald Trump. He is really willing to let the IRGC and Mullah of the Month continue to run the place if they just give up all of their nuclear ambitions. They don’t believe him and their pride makes them fools, talking about reparations and an end of hostility—without any mention of dealing with the nuclear issues. Even Donald Trump has finite patience, and the midterms are coming. Most expect a resumption of fighting this week, and the targets will be catastrophic for the Iranian regime. They will lose their means of energy production and probably several top people to boot. The extended time-out has allowed the US and Israel to add weapons and service the air frames that seemed to flying non-stop. Maduro was offered an out and he laughed at the US. The Iranians were offered an off-ramp but they couldn’t get over their egos to accept it. Maduro is gone and the Iranians are about to get hit in a manner that they did not feel during the more restrained Phase I of the kinetic war. When Israel hit a natural gas field, it was chastised by the US. No more of that.
The US has many enemies because the US shows a way of life that is an anathema to dictators and religious zealots. The freedoms Americans enjoy are more threatening to a strongman than B-52s loaded with bombs. The US offers hope to those who live under the jackboot and rifle of their government. The hatred towards the US from its enemies is a compliment as to the greatness of the country as she celebrates her 250th birthday.
Editor's Note: Do you enjoy Townhall's conservative reporting that takes on the radical left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.
Join Townhall VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member