“Not that a war in Ukraine is not important, but I would say what’s happening with China is more important in the long term for the future of the world,“ Rubio told Fox News host Sean Hannity.
Yet more than 100 days into Trump's term, observers also notice a surprising lack of attention on China. Trump has hit China hard with tariffs, but otherwise, there has been little by way of articulated strategy.
“I think that the White House thought that they’d be in a different place with China now than where they are,“ said Wendy Cutler, a former top US trade negotiator who is now vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute.
China, she said, is “playing a longer game” with President Xi Jinping rallying the population by blaming the United States for economic pain.
Trump is surrounded by reputed hawks such as Rubio, who is now also interim national security advisor, but Trump himself is transactional and appears “enamored with Xi Jinping,“ Cutler said.
The United States and China plan their first formal trade talks this week in Switzerland, over a month after Trump unveiled his sweeping levies.
“Their economy is suffering greatly because they’re not doing trade with the US,“ Trump told reporters Tuesday.
Trump has shown himself to be far more radical than in his first term on a host of issues. But he has shown signs of pragmatism on China, despite heated rhetoric against Beijing on the campaign trail.
Former president Joe Biden's administration also identified China as the top rival but sought to work together on targeted areas, such as fighting climate change and curbing fentanyl.
It began a shift of US forces in southern Japan and northern Philippines -- within proximity of Taiwan -- and pursued coalitions to reject the use of Chinese high-technology.
China has quickly reached out to Japan and South Korea, among the closest US allies, to explore a free-trade deal.
He also questioned how the tariff war fit into a considered strategy on China, which now has an incentive to double down on achieving greater self-sufficiency and has been able to project itself as “a more stabilizing geopolitical force than the world’s preeminent power.”
“Despite his alleged friendship with Xi and his stated desire for the United States and China to collaborate more robustly, he has created a trade impasse from which neither leader has an easy face-saving off-ramp,“ Wyne said.
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