John F. Copper is the Stanley J. Buckman Professor of International Studies (emeritus) at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. He is the author of more than thirty books on China, Taiwan and US Asia policy.
US President Donald Trump wrote: “China is our enemy.” He said China was an enemy because of weak and incompetent US officials that were taken to the cleaners by smart and seasoned Chinese negotiators, and he would fix that and turn China into a friend.
On June 13, 2017, China and Panama jointly announced they had established formal diplomatic relations, and Panama declared it was breaking ties with Taiwan. The reaction in Taiwan reflected more hurt and anger than usual over the exit of a friend and “ally.”
After nearly six months of seeing giant shifts in one direction and then the other in Donald Trump’s Taiwan policy, many observers are wondering what is to come next. There are plenty of good reasons to believe that Trump wants to keep the status quo.
Judging from Trump’s focus on making deals and building up US military forces to facilitate negotiations, he espouses a realist view of the world. He is not an idealist. He puts little stock in promoting lofty principles.
President Xi’s objectives were to have a good first get-together with President Trump and dampen speculation that they would not get along or that there were explosive issues that divided them and the two countries.
One might argue that US President Donald Trump lacks a worldview. In fact, as he was campaigning to become president, he developed a worldview. There were two choices for him: Preserve the liberal democratic globalism model, or shift to the realist, sovereign nation-state mode of maintaining world order.
It may be that Trump’s tête-à-tête with Xi was more important than simply the two leaders resolving the one-China issue. It included the two leaders inviting each other to visit their country. It seemed to represent détente following more than a month of hostile exchanges.
The negative news and the predictions of China’s collapse were “old hat.” As time passed, these accounts were discredited. So, the Western media had to reset. One tack is to push China and Trump’s America into conflict.