Sino File | Trump’s one-China affirmation should fool no one – especially China

US President Donald Trump’s commitment to honour the one-China policy, pledged this month in the first telephone conversation with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping (習近平), appears to be an effort to prevent the US-China relationship unravelling further following Trump’s repeated China bashing last year. Trump has also broken the ice with Xi in a letter that says he looks forward to developing relations.

However, it must be remembered that since his surprise election in November, Trump has infuriated and unnerved Beijing by questioning the US government’s long commitment to the policy and by having an unprecedented phone conversation with Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, breaking decades of diplomatic protocol.

China keen to see who will be Trump’s next top security adviser

Shortly after taking office on January 20, he continued his hardline approach on issues from North Korea to regional security and territorial disputes in the East and South China seas. His Cabinet, which includes several notorious China hawks, has also threatened a much stronger stance against Beijing.

This suggests Trump’s new, softer tone does not mean the combative leader has reconsidered his previous approach to be risky or counterproductive.

Rather, the conflicting messages might underscore the new administration’s struggle in crafting an approach to one of America’s biggest foreign-policy challenges. His advisers should have understood well that confronting China over hot-button nationalist issues could trigger strong reactions, especially when Xi is seeking to achieve a national renaissance.

At issue is the unavoidable conflict between the two leaders’ ambitiously nationalistic agendas – Xi’s “Chinese Dream” and Trump’s campaign promise to “Make American Great Again”.