New hope for the trade war
With claims that China uses unfair trade practices, enforces technology transfers, and supports trade imbalances, it was on this basis that President Trump launched the two countries into an economic deadlock.
But the real motivation behind all of this remains controversial. A major opinion in China is that Trump is concerned about China's rise, and views it as a threat. Critics say he's trying to prevent China from challenging America's position as a superpower in global politics.
Also, with all of these twists and turns in the past few months, Donald Trump is unmistakably an unpredictable character.
Continued ambiguity and vagueness is simply stirring up deeper concerns, and that the current atmosphere is just the beginning. And as suggested by U.S. Vice President Mike Pence in a speech in October last year, there's a possibility that what the world witnessed 30 years ago between the U.S. and Russia, could re-surface as a new, comprehensive Cold War.
But the situation once again turned in another direction. On November 1, right before China's International Import Expo, Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with his American counterpart on the phone. On December 1, the presidents of the two countries met at the G20 Summit in Argentina. They agreed to refrain from imposing new tariffs on Chinese goods worth 200 billion U.S. dollars, a move described by some as a 90-day truce, and with a goal of canceling all additional tariffs.
Although Beijing says the two sides have been working closely together and are set to hold a face to face meeting in January 2019, concerns have re-emerged following the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou by the Canadian government at the request of Washington.
At the end of 2018, President Xi and President Trump had a phone conversation. Xi spoke highly about the conversation, saying the two working teams have been actively implementing the agreement. Trump echoed Xi's comments in a tweet, saying, “the deal is moving along very well. If made, it will be very comprehensive, covering all subjects, areas and points of the dispute.”
Although the two presidents' words seem promising, I've realized to take any optimism with a grain of salt. There is a Chinese saying, “Jing Guan Qi Bian”, which means, watch in silence for the changes. I think that's a suitable course of action, given the many twists in this trade war.
As a CGTN reporter, Wang Hui has covered the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and related stories. She's closely followed the trade spat between China and the U.S. since it started.
