Can the US-China relationship ever recover from four years of Donald Trump?

The soon to be former US leader’s constant clashes with Beijing have left Joe Biden with a mountain to climb if he wants to revitalise America’s links with China, observers say

But Beijing is far from blameless for the poor state of the relationship between the world’s two largest economies, they say

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The US-China relationship has had a tumultuous ride under Donald Trump. Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

Published: 6:00pm, 17 Jan 2021Updated: 9:49am, 25 Jan 2021

As preparations get under way for the inauguration of a new president in the United States, the South China Morning Post looks at the legacy left by Donald Trump and the challenges created for Joe Biden. In the first of two articles we look at how US-China ties changed under Trump and investigate how the two nations might get their relationship back on track.

As Donald Trump’s presidency comes to a messy end after weeks of post-election turmoil, the United States is more divided than ever and its global standing is in tatters. It is a legacy his successor Joe Biden will find it difficult to undo.

As the first US president to be impeached twice, Trump is likely to go down in history as one of the country’s most polarising and disruptive leaders. Upending the fundamentals of US diplomacy, his unilateral and transactional “America first” approach has accelerated Washington’s global retreat, alienated its allies and partners, and arguably more importantly, ushered in a new cold war with China.

Thanks to his unconventional, populist style of governance and a disruptive foreign policy largely defined by controversy, the past four years have seen a tumultuous ride in US-China relations. For his critics and countries caught up in the showdown, Trump’s China policy has been too confrontational, undiplomatic and counterproductive.

But in the eyes of China hawks, it is too little, too late to contain an increasingly assertive Beijing, especially after China emerged victorious from the coronavirus pandemic, which is still taking a heavy toll on Trump’s America and his presidency.

Yet despite their mixed views on Trump, China observers, scholars and former diplomats generally agree that the actions of the outgoing president caused a fundamental shift in how China’s increasingly authoritarian, one-party rule is perceived in Washington and around the world.