US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House is so far proving more nightmarish for US allies and friends than adversaries.
China certainly does not relish a trade war with the US, but it was better prepared than others for Trump’s tariffs, and both sides appear to be leaving room for a potential deal. Although Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is poised for worse to come, the second Trump term is bringing Beijing opportunities as well as problems.
International respect for the US plummeted under his last administration. As the US president turns the screws on long-term partners, China is looking to take advantage.
Colombia quickly caved to Trump on the matter of migrant returns, but China’s ambassador has been celebrating the “best moment” in relations between Bogota and Beijing.
Under pressure from the Trump administration, Panama announced that it would allow its participation in China’s Belt and Road Initiative to expire. Yet behind-the-scenes arm-twisting had already begun tilting Panama back toward the US. Trump’s attempts to humiliate and bully might backfire there and across the region.
He is likely to find it harder going, too, away from his back yard, in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The US has never been afraid to use hard power, but trade, aid and military alliances have also been key to its hegemony. No longer.
Trump’s attack on South Africa, cutting financial assistance, might delight Elon Musk, but pointlessly alienates an important middle power. His declaration that the US would expand its territory in various locations — using military force if necessary — shows his utter contempt for the law, as does his order to halt enforcement of US legislation banning the bribery of foreign officials.
China might well benefit by addressing some of the impact of the US axing aid — it funds at least one affected group — but it has focused more on loans and infrastructure than partnership with local organizations, and its record suggests it is unlikely to fill the financial holes left by the US.
There is little naivety about engagement with Beijing these days, but many nations will conclude that they have little choice but to hedge their bets. China is most likely to gain ground in multilateral institutions, and among middle-income nations that view it much more positively than high-income ones.
US Vice President J.D. Vance’s blast at European leaders at the Munich Security Conference, and promotion of the hard right, was a shocking moment of clarity. Yet far from holding out a velvet-gloved hand, Beijing has just appointed a controversial “wolf warrior” diplomat as its special representative for European affairs. Lu Shaye (盧沙野) sparked fury when, as ambassador to France, he questioned the sovereignty of former Soviet states and Ukraine’s sovereignty over Crimea. As China and the US contend, others are likely to find themselves not wooed, but pressured by both sides.
China rose more rapidly in the global order than it could have expected. Now it is watching US power deteriorate far more quickly. That is promising for a nation that wants a multipolar world without inconvenient universal values. Yet the question is not just how others react to Beijing’s growing power, but whether a security free-rider might find itself taking on roles it hoped to avoid, or having to cope with the vacuum left if it does not.
US President Donald Trump has gotten off to a head-spinning start in his foreign policy. He has pressured Denmark to cede Greenland to the United States, threatened to take over the Panama Canal, urged Canada to become the 51st US state, unilaterally renamed the Gulf of Mexico to “the Gulf of America” and announced plans for the United States to annex and administer Gaza. He has imposed and then suspended 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico for their roles in the flow of fentanyl into the United States, while at the same time increasing tariffs on China by 10
As an American living in Taiwan, I have to confess how impressed I have been over the years by the Chinese Communist Party’s wholehearted embrace of high-speed rail and electric vehicles, and this at a time when my own democratic country has chosen a leader openly committed to doing everything in his power to put obstacles in the way of sustainable energy across the board — and democracy to boot. It really does make me wonder: “Are those of us right who hold that democracy is the right way to go?” Has Taiwan made the wrong choice? Many in China obviously
US President Donald Trump last week announced plans to impose reciprocal tariffs on eight countries. As Taiwan, a key hub for semiconductor manufacturing, is among them, the policy would significantly affect the country. In response, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) dispatched two officials to the US for negotiations, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC) board of directors convened its first-ever meeting in the US. Those developments highlight how the US’ unstable trade policies are posing a growing threat to Taiwan. Can the US truly gain an advantage in chip manufacturing by reversing trade liberalization? Is it realistic to
About 6.1 million couples tied the knot last year, down from 7.28 million in 2023 — a drop of more than 20 percent, data from the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs showed. That is more serious than the precipitous drop of 12.2 percent in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the saying goes, a single leaf reveals an entire autumn. The decline in marriages reveals problems in China’s economic development, painting a dismal picture of the nation’s future. A giant question mark hangs over economic data that Beijing releases due to a lack of clarity, freedom of the press
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