https://www.scmp.com/rss/326838/feed Kristian McGuire is an independent, Washington-based research analyst and associate editor of Taiwan Security Research. His main research interests include US–Taiwan relations, cross-strait relations, and East Asian regional security. His work has appeared in The Diplomat, Newsweek,The Interpreter, Asia Times, and TSR Weekly Report. You can reach him at kristianmcguire@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @KrisAMcGuire. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com US President Donald Trump has a peculiar habit of linking Beijing’s cooperation on solving security and transnational problems to the ongoing US-China trade negotiations. The most popular explanation for this is that it is a by-product of his long career as a businessman. Trump, so the theory goes, cannot help but see US-China relations – or most of his duties as president, for that matter – as a series of business transactions in which everything is negotiable. While there may be a good deal of... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3024543/donald-trumps-conditional-engagement-china-not-new-nor-will-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3024543/donald-trumps-conditional-engagement-china-not-new-nor-will-it?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Aug 2019 17:00:04 +0000 Debate about the wisdom or foolishness of US President Donald Trump’s decision to embroil his country in a trade war with China has tended to obscure the fact that most Americans are dissatisfied with the broader US-China economic relationship, whether or not they support their president’s strategy for rectifying it. This negative public sentiment, combined with other important factors, indicates that tougher US economic policies towards China could be the new normal, even if Trump loses his... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2165640/how-donald-trump-made-being-tough-china-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2165640/how-donald-trump-made-being-tough-china-new?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Sep 2018 19:02:12 +0000 As Beijing seeks to insert itself into ongoing negotiations with North Korea, it has a complex array of interests and options to consider. Should it help its communist ally push for the removal of US troops from South Korea? Or would it be best to simply continue supporting the indefinite suspension of US-South Korea joint military exercises? Does Beijing need to be concerned about improving US-North Korea relations? If so, what needs to happen to ensure that the budding relationship doesn’t one... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2153731/how-north-korean-denuclearisation-would-be?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2153731/how-north-korean-denuclearisation-would-be?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Jul 2018 18:02:57 +0000 North Korea’s threat to pull out of a planned summit between Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump has complicated efforts to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue. Pyongyang’s sudden declaration that it will cancel the meeting if the United States tries to force it into “unilateral nuclear abandonment” is certainly not positive, but it might have a silver lining.  Trump’s decision in March to agree to meet North Korea’s leader spawned two major concerns. First, experts fear that the US... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2147207/why-north-koreas-summit-threat-may-not-be-bad-thing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2147207/why-north-koreas-summit-threat-may-not-be-bad-thing?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 May 2018 04:45:30 +0000 No one knows for certain how ongoing US and South Korean efforts to engage North Korea will play out. What is clear, though, is that a speedy resolution to the North Korean nuclear issue is anything but guaranteed. Therefore, Washington, Beijing and Seoul would be wise to harmonise their North Korea strategies in preparation for drawn-out negotiations with the North, or, worse yet, a complete breakdown of the engagement efforts.  Failure to properly prepare for such eventualities will put the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2140298/china-us-and-south-korea-must-harmonise-their-north-korea?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2140298/china-us-and-south-korea-must-harmonise-their-north-korea?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Apr 2018 04:15:15 +0000