Trump-Xi summit hides China’s structural weakness
The big relief is nothing bad happened at the Xi and Trump summit May 14 and 15 in Beijing. However, Xi did appear the victor. He made modest but not large commitments to purchase U.S. goods. Trump failed to declare U.S. support for Taiwan, and the president’s overall behavior toward Xi was highly deferential. Trump managed to weaken American power rather than “cut a deal” to America’s advantage.
The Chinese continue to believe in a "rising China, falling U.S". In April, the investment bank Citic Securities published a report that went viral. The report described the U.S. war with Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz as a sign of the end of American global power—similar to the U.K. loss of the Suez Canal in 1956. “The Suez moment marked the United Kingdom’s relinquishing of global power,” the report, said. “This may well be a Hormuz moment from which we can draw several inferences about the evolution of the global order,” according to the South China Morning Post.
While the short-term impact of Trump’s negligent and ineffective policies, along with his Taco actions, have diminished U.S. power, I would argue that China is structurally in a weaker position than the U.S. Once Trump leaves office and China’s economic problems become more severe, the image of China’s rise and the U.S. decline will reverse. This depends, of course, on the outcome of the Iran war.
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