China Draws Competitive Line With Trump Over Isolationist Bluster (TWEETS/VIDEO)

It was reported that, during the week of Trump’s inauguration, censorship instructions by the Chinese government were leaked, which told the Beijing media to tread carefully when covering the event.

China’s anger at President Trump has grown since it was reported that he accepted a phone call from Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-Wen on December 2, when he was still the President-elect.

The media immediately described this as disruptive because it threatened to violate what has for forty years been honored as the One-China policy.

This policy states that countries who want diplomatic relations with The People’s Republic of China and the mainland would need to recognize them only and not the Republic of China and Taiwan.

But by taking the call it was a clear sign to the Chinese government that he might not honor the policy.

Trump Confirms Isolationist Trade Policy

Throughout Obama’s two terms, Republicans have been aggressively critical of the President over his foreign-policy achievements, saying that he has none and has only weakened the United States.

A widely reported interview with two Republicans considered among the most hawkish, made that determination when they were asked about the President’s legacy after the new year.

Despite an embarrassing incident and confrontation in China during President Obama’s last visit, the relationship between both nations has appeared quite secure. The One-China policy is the reason why the U.S. hasn’t had a relationship with Taiwan since Jimmy Carter was president.

A report by the BBC covered the response from many Chinese newspapers who got a late start on the inauguration coverage, perhaps due to the warning from their government.

The Hill reported that Chinese President Xi was in Davos on Tuesday for the World Economic Forum, where he talked about the opportunities China had for trade deals. At the same seminar was a representative for the Trump administration, Scaramucci, who stuck to the strict adherence of the new President’s America first policy.

Until then, the isolationism that the Trump administration would throw the United States into, was only imagined. The Hill interpreted the public display accidentally forcing China to trade elsewhere on a more competitive and massive scale.

It suggested that China would continue to trade and do business with other nations, even continuing the TPP deal without the U.S., which would certainly interest those corporate powers involved.

Debate Over Trump’s Ignorance Of One China Policy

Since news of the call broke, certain members of Trump’s transition team had been asked about the then President-elect’s intentions of accepting the call. At the time, they said that it was just a friendly congratulatory call before it was discovered that the call had been planned for months.

A discussion about the call took place on the following Sunday after the initial report on This Week with George Stephanopoulos during a panel segment, where it was then suggested that the call was no accident. George brought up the incident with Alex Castellanos who is a major Trump supporter.

“So do you think that the Taiwan call was deliberate?”

At the beginning of the discussion, Castellanos considered the possibility that Trump knew what he was doing. He started by reminding the panel of President Obama’s embarrassing visit.

“Yes, I think actually it was. Apparently, his aides were over there at some point, and it was almost three months ago to the day when China snubbed the President of the United States. Wouldn’t give him steps to get off of Air Force One and so a little push back here. We’re learning a lot. Donald Trump negotiates from strength.”

But Donald Trump’s acceptance of the phone call is what many considered to be another part of his pattern of ignorance.

Republican strategist Sara Fagen agreed with Alex that the incident was no accident. Her “proof” was from what Trump said in his foreign policy speech during his campaign that America was too predictable. She suggested that the Republican view was that America should be more assertive with China than it has been.

Axelrod countered this by saying that that the Trans-pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) was one way the U.S. could have been assertive. This was a trade agreement that President Obama tried to put in place but failed to do so under a do-nothing Congress.

Given the recent report over Davos about China taking over the TPP deal, it confirms what might be viewed as an easy power grab by China over trade with the United States.

Mistaking Ignorance For Strength?

But he also referred to the other times Trump hinted at his ignorance by praising unfavorable leaders. The U.S. sees many of those leaders in Khazikstan and Pakistan negatively. Axelrod used those leaders as cases for examples of less than intentional disruption and Trump’s ignorance of the U.S.’ relationships with the rest of the world.

Even if the call was planned, there is still the matter of how this threatens the relationship. Robert Daly of the Kissinger Institute talked about Donald Trump’s call on NPR’s Morning Edition the following Tuesday. In the interview, he suggested that the call was intentional.

The Trump Administration Has Already Lost The U.S. To China

Daly said that what Trump did was something other incoming presidents in the past have tried to do. In those situations; however, they’ve looked at the “numbers” and ended up not following through. China has apparently used the One-China policy as a way to test incoming presidents.

But he also said that foreign policy experts have considered the U.S. establishing relations with Taiwan; even Republican lawmakers.

Among those on the panel, Matthew Dowd felt that the call fed into Trump’s ego, and was the main reason why he took it. He added that America’s policies for China were not considered, pointing to his ignorance.

But Castellanos “disagreed” and gave a variety of reasons as to why the U.S. should be more aggressive with China.

One could only imagine how this could play out over time. For now, given the opportunities available to China, Trump’s bluster has already isolated the United States, without the formality of paperwork.

At the beginning of the program, George Stephanopoulos confronted the then Vice President-Elect Mike Pence about Donald Trump accepting the call. George Stephanopoulos asked him if it was an aggressive stance toward China. The only confirmation he gave was in saying that America had been losing too much. This is practically word-for-word of what Donald Trump said.

Since the interview, nothing has changed on this matter and the inauguration only marked the beginning of the end of the relationship between China and the United States.

Here is the video of the entire discussion over Donald Trump’s defiance of the One China policy.

https://youtu.be/PD8m2Pq6i5s

Featured image by Screenshot via YouTube