Donald Trump’s moves on North Korea and China defy convention, but who says they can’t be right?
Tom Plate says not all of Trump’s unconventional conduct in foreign policy is deserving of condemnation, as most of the US media seems to believe
In the case of Xi and China, the complaint is not over a paucity of communication between the two leaders but a plethora. Some reporters joke that Trump phones Xi almost as often as first lady Melania. Ordinarily, personal diplomacy is applauded but, collectively, our media commentariat and talk-show hosts are so negative on Trump, that if famous cold war strategist George Kennan rose from the dead and offered a good word for the new president on personal engagement, the media would probably paint this as a Russian trick or the like.
One US media story suggested, with thin sourcing, that Xi was feeling “pestered” by Trump’s near-constant phoning and hardly knows what to do with his new, clueless pal. But is this credible? China’s hard-working president is obviously no slacker but he’d have to be just that to feel “pestered” by calls from the president of the US. On the contrary, it’s a feather in Xi’s Mao cap. It’s not as if he’s being “pestered” by some minister from the Maldives. In China-US relations, continuing communication is vital. Less is not more.
