How China misread the US on trade during Donald Trump's early days, according to Ronnie Chan
- Hong Kong tycoon and US citizen says Beijing’s negotiators failed to pick up key points in early discussions and explains how Trump’s tweets influenced ‘old friends’ to turn hawkish
When the meeting was over, there was supposed to be an agreement.
In the early days of the administration of US President Donald Trump, Chinese Vice-Premier Wang Yang had gone to Washington for the annual strategic economic dialogue to hammer out a deal on narrowing the United States’ trade deficit with China – the target of sustained Trump ire since taking office.
Some sort of joint statement on common ground – if only an agreement to meet again – should have been a formality.
But the talks turned toxic and Wang’s trip ended without the customary press conference and joint statement.
The abrupt end to such a high-level mission sent the Chinese tacticians into a flurry of self-examination, according to Ronnie Chan Chichung, a Hong Kong property tycoon with extensive access to US politicians, think tanks and the Chinese government.
“They [Beijing] began to analyse did we do something wrong? Did we give them the wrong thing? Did we insist on too much? Did we send a wrong guy there? Were our tactics wrong, what’s wrong?” Chan said.
In a wide-ranging interview with the South China Morning P ost, Chan said Beijing was flummoxed. China had failed to pick up on several key points, leaving negotiators wrong-footed not only at the meeting but for the first 18 months of the Trump administration.