The Paradox of Trump’s Anti-China Rhetoric
By: Xiaodong Fang
Tags: Elections, Politics, Trump, President, China

The Paradox of Trump’s Anti-China Rhetoric

Photo by Jack Hunter on Unsplash

Conventional wisdom suggests President Donald Trump’s tough on China. However, the illusion does not reflect the truth.

The publication of John Bolton’s book makes people doubt President Trump’s real attitude towards China. If almost all of the re-electing presidential candidate’s claims appear to be tough on China, why does the incumbent president fawn over China’s President Xi?

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The myth is not true

Critics may promptly draw the conclusion that since the president is corrupt and incompetent, he can partner with whomever he needs to advance his interests. However, if we take a deep look into Trump’s China-related rhetoric and policies, the paradoxical flip-flopping is with independent and different issues. And thus, the “insistence” of Trump’s attitude towards China might be exacerbated.

There exists a common misconception people are thinking about presidents’ and presidential candidates’ anti-China rhetoric. That’s is, to generalize a frequently attacked topic to the universal negativity of every single issue with China.

Presidents, as well as presidential candidates, take priority in policymaking and campaign messaging. While Trump attacked China constantly during his 2016 campaign trails, most of the rhetoric was about economic issues, and more specifically, trade. Tracking on Trump’s anti-China campaign rhetoric during the general election period in 2016, I found that the economy constituted a lion’s share in August and September and continued

to be the most mentioned issue until Election Day. On the contrary, little human rights in China was mentioned by Trump during the general election campaign period.

Inconsistencies are prevalent

The priority on trade and the ignorance of human rights match exactly the Trump Presidency’s different policies on China. No doubt that Trump would prefer starting the trade war and then pursuing a trade deal with China over clashing on human rights. Bolton’s book recounts how Trump asked Xi to buy American agricultural products — which was part of the eventual “ phase one “ trade deal signed in January 2020 — to help Trump win votes from certain constituencies in the 2020 election. Apparently, it would be helpful for his reelection bid by claiming credits on trade and keeping his campaign promise.

Supposed it is the truth that Trump told Xi that he supported “the ethnic cleansing against Uighurs and other ethnic minority groups on at least two occasions,” that’s because human rights was not the primary concern of the Trump administration. The current administration’s records on immigration and domestic affairs have already undermined human rights at home and abroad, especially the views towards Muslims. It is not surprising that Trump’s lack of interest in human rights in China and telling Xi that “building concentration camps against Uighurs and other ethnic minority groups was exactly the right thing to do.”

Think again

Photo by Jose M. on Unsplash

Next time, when observing a president’s or presidential candidate’s anti-China rhetoric, it is better to differentiate them into different issue categories. A majority or concentration of attacks on one issue shouldn’t be interpreted as the universal negative attitude on all issues regarding China.