Letters | Why Donald Trump winning another four years in office might please China

The current US president bears some similarities to Reagan. Donald Trump was part of a hit television show, while Reagan was a film star. Both have bent over backwards to bring down the country they see as their biggest enemy.

Recently, both China and the US have hinted the trade war between them is drawing to a close and that a trade deal is close at hand. China is likely to stop demanding technology transfers, cease exchange rate manipulation, protect property rights, and redress the trade balance. It seems that China is going to throw in the towel for the sake of maintaining its economic growth rate of over 6 per cent.

Though many think Trump is a capricious strongman, at least his strategies are clear – his public statements, addresses to the nation and national strategy documents do not attempt to hide the intention of confronting China as the US’ number one competitor. Perhaps after a couple of years’ tough but straightforward dealings with Mr Trump, Beijing is now used to him.