China Briefing | There’s an obstacle in China’s drive to take on the US in tech: Beijing

Trump’s trade war threats and curbs on Chinese investments have only strengthened Xi Jinping’s hi-tech ambitions. But pitfalls abound on China’s path to becoming a world leader in innovation

Reading Time:5 minutes

Published: 1:30pm, 2 Jun 2018Updated: 5:16pm, 4 Jun 2018

An enduring Chinese idiom of Zhao Ling Xi Gai literally means that an order is issued at dawn but rescinded at dusk, and this has long been used to describe unpredictable and fast changes in policy.

Well, there is no more apt description of the flip-flop presidency of Donald Trump.

Just less than two weeks after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the trade war with China was “on hold” and days before US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross was due to fly to Beijing on Saturday to hammer out details to avert the war, Trump tried to reignite it on Tuesday.

His White House renewed its threat to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Chinese imports worth US$50 billion.

The flip-flop comes days after another about-face by Trump, who cancelled his historic first summit with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un only to change his mind two days later and say it was back on.

This time, the Chinese side reacted to the American threat coolly. The Ministry of Commerce described the statement as “tactical”, saying it was both unexpected and within expectation while the Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the latest volte-face was another dent on America’s national standing.

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