Chemistry between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump can smooth the way for China-US ties, Michael Pillsbury says
- There will be trouble ahead for the world’s two biggest economies but it needn’t be all bad news, White House adviser says
- US president views China as both a challenge and an opportunity, and his idea that there is “a good China and a bad China” is reflected in the ongoing trade talks, Pillsbury says
China and the United States will face more conflict and confrontation in the future but the “chemistry” between their leaders will provide something of a buffer, according to a White House adviser.
“Trust has been going down in the past 10 years,” Michael Pillsbury, a senior fellow and director for Chinese strategy at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank based in Washington, told the South China Morning Post.
“Confrontation will go up between the two economic systems, but don’t forget what’s new: the personal relationship between President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump. Do they have some level of trust? I would say yes,” he said.
On the future of relations between the two countries Pillsbury, who is described by Trump as a leading authority on China, said: “It is going to be a mixture of cooperation and competition.”
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between China and the US, but their rivalry – on everything from technology and the military to geopolitics – has been on the rise in recent years. Since July they have been locked in an unprecedented tariff war, which officials are currently working hard to resolve.