US-China cooperation not a priority for either side, says Beijing academic
- Any chance of an end to trade war is gone and chances to work together have turned into disputes, Shi Yinhong of Renmin University says
Opportunities for cooperation between China and the US have turned into disputes and any chance of an imminent end to the trade war is gone, according to a Chinese government adviser and diplomatic observer.
Shi Yinhong, international relations professor at China’s Renmin University, who also advises the government, said that cooperation was not currently a priority for either the Chinese government or US President Donald Trump, with almost all areas where they could have worked together overwhelmed by confrontation.
“The summit between the two leaders changed nothing substantial, and was only temporary. The momentum was shorter than a month,” Shi said, referring to Trump’s surprise announcement of a 10 per cent tariff on a further US$300 billion worth of Chinese imports from September 1.
Trump’s move – which he attributed to a failure by China to buy US agricultural products and to halt exports of fentanyl to the US – came less than a month after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Osaka, Japan, in late June.
“With both China and the US committed to putting their countries first, nationalism in both nations is getting stronger, making them more confrontational to each other,” Shi said.