It’s not a big mystery, argues Bonnie Girard (“If Trump Wins, What Will His China Policies Be?,” The Diplomat, November 4, 2024).
“From the beginning of Trump’s administration in January 2017 to the very last day of it in January 2021, Trump pulled no punches in dealing blows to China on a comprehensive list of agenda items….
“The Trump White House’s executive orders list and address a comprehensive litany of aggressions, abuses, and actions taken by China in a wide variety of arenas, from human rights to the South China Sea to theft of American intellectual property. Topped off by a charge of genocide—which was backed by Pompeo’s successor as secretary of state as well—Trump left no doubt in anyone’s mind that more was to come if he were given another term.”
Some of the points noted in the piece:
● The tariffs.
● Penalizing of Chinese officials responsible for violating human rights.
● Executive order recognizing, in the wake of China’s crackdown on Hong Kong liberties in 2020, that Hong is “no longer sufficiently autonomous to justify differential treatment in relation to the People’s Republic of China.”
● A slew of other executive orders directly or indirectly countering China.
● Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s statement that China “had committed ‘genocide and crimes against humanity’ through its often-violent repression of Muslim Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in northwest Xinjiang Province, since at least March of 2017.”
“Donald Trump, like every other president, has his own policies and priorities to address and achieve. He had them in 2016, and he has them now. Unlike presidents before him, Trump is not worried about hurting Beijing’s feelings in the process. If Trump wins, China is in for a rough ride.”
Most of the article makes sense. Contra Girard, though, I doubt that Trump has “left no doubt in anyone’s mind” that his second administration would continue and add to the tough-on-China policies of his first; people can doubt anything if they work at it hard enough. But this won’t matter if he wins the election, takes office, and serves as president.
