In his United Nations address on Tuesday, President Trump launched a scathing attack on China.
Blaming Beijing for covering up the early ramifications of the coronavirus pandemic, Trump lambasted Xi Jinping’s regime as an adversary to the interest of humanity. Had Beijing told the truth about the virus’s infectiousness, many lives might have been saved, Trump said. Not just humans, but the world.
Noting China’s extreme overfishing and oceanic pollution, Trump observed that Xi’s regime practices a very different reality to the global stewardship it claims to offer. The rebukes here were well timed, offering a counterpoint to Xi’s U.N. speech on Tuesday. The Chinese leader used his own address to present the Communist Party as a beneficent servant of “Mother Earth.”
But Trump’s critiques serve another purpose — namely, in reminding America’s democratic partners around the world that there is a distinct difference between what China’s leaders say and what they do. As the European Union grapples with the post-pandemic consideration of its relationship with China, warnings such as Trump’s take on added exigency. European leaders might not like Trump, but they know that Xi isn’t the honest partner he presents himself to be.
The hawkish tone in Trump’s speech points to something else. Confirmation that the countering of China will form the foreign policy foundation of Trump’s pitch for reelection. Expect the president to tar Democratic candidate Joe Biden increasingly with a brush of China appeasement. Hunter Biden’s China business dealings are almost certain to make an appearance in the first presidential debate. We should also look for escalating policy steps to exert pressure on Beijing in the run-up to November. The announcement of new sanctions, more arms sales to Taiwan and India (which increasingly faces its own China military challenge), and the expansion of U.S. Navy patrols through the South China Sea will be central here.
One thing is for sure. If Trump wins reelection, there will be very little room for American diplomatic pleasantry with Xi, a man that Trump used to like calling his friend.
