The United States accused China of suppressing Hong Kong’s autonomy and at the same time imposed entry restrictions on Chinese officials who do not allow Americans to visit Tibet. This means that the Donald Trump administration is diplomatically repeating the same anti-China tactics that the White House pursued under Joseph Biden. Meanwhile, Trump has not abandoned his intention to visit China and hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. But against the background of worsening relations between the two powers, such a meeting is becoming much less likely.
Washington is not inclined to learn from the experience of relations between the United States and China accumulated by the previous administration. Biden pursued an ambiguous course on the issue of Taiwan; one minute he said that the United States would defend the island from Chinese invasion, then he took back his words. This did not reduce the tension, but nevertheless made it difficult for Beijing to develop a strategy for Taiwan. And now America is increasingly turning away from Europe, putting the task of containing China at the forefront.
The United States has imposed sanctions on six Chinese and Hong Kong officials for carrying out “transnational repression” that is further eroding the city’s autonomy. Among those punished are Hong Kong officials responsible for security and the Chief of Police. As the State Department explains, China first, more precisely in 2020, adopted the laws on the security of Hong Kong, and then began to use them to intimidate activists of the democratic movement. As a result, 19 of them were forced to flee to the United States. Moreover, there are American citizens and residents of the United States among these people.
As the AP agency reminds, the former British colony was returned to China in 1997. At the same time, the Sino-British agreements stipulated that the semi-autonomous status of the Territory and Western-style civil liberties would remain intact for 50 years. Beijing has an answer to this. The city needs stability and a favorable business climate. And the protests are only doing harm here.
Over the past two years, Hong Kong authorities have issued arrest orders for 19 pro-democracy activists abroad. A reward of HK$ 1 million has been promised for information on the whereabouts that will lead to the arrest of each of them.
For America, the reason for the tightening of the policy towards China was not only Hong Kong, but also Tibet. The United States has imposed additional visa restrictions on Chinese officials who are responsible for admitting foreigners to the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and some other areas of China. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio himself made a comment here. He claimed that the Chinese Communist Party had been denying entry to both TAR and other areas of the country where Tibetans live for a long time. In the context of previous statements by the Trump administration, mentioning the Communist Party instead of the PRC sounds particularly defiant. The question arises: does the United States doubt the legitimacy of the power structure in China? Another nuance is that Rubio demands access for Americans not only to the Tibetan Autonomous Region, but also to other places where Tibetans live.
In this light, what do the prospects for a summit between Trump and Xi Jinping look like? The New York Times (NYT) writes that Trump spoke about his desire to meet with the Chinese president. Chinese officials and experts are also in favor of holding the summit. In their opinion, it is necessary to resolve, at least mainly, the differences between the United States and China. Otherwise, there will be no improvement in bilateral relations due to Trump’s aggressive approach to trade and foreign policy. But the preparation of the meeting is slow and difficult.
Stephen Danes, a Republican senator from Montana, visited China this March as an informal representative of Trump. The purpose of the visit was to prepare for the summit. Danes met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. After that, he said that the summit could take place at the end of the year. And in Washington, they expected it to happen sooner.
In Beijing, Communist Party officials and experts say they were taken aback by Trump’s rapid-fire military weapons. This refers to his tariffs, statements about Greenland and Ukraine. The Chinese were also surprised by how Trump treated Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. Therefore, Beijing has not yet decided to propose a date for the summit.
Wu Xingbo, dean of Fudan University in Shanghai, says: “The Chinese side believes that the Trump administration has not yet determined a course of action towards China, how to reach a deal with it. The Chinese side expects a more constructive and reasonable signal from Trump.” Two other Chinese experts told the NYT that Xi and Trump could talk in New York in September, when the UN General Assembly session will be held there. To do this, it is necessary that the positions of the two governments become closer.
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The authors of Russian socio-political Telegram channels closely followed the relations between China and the United States. “The escalation of the trade war between China and the United States has led to the imposition of duties on imports of goods from China,” Temnik believes. – In response, Chinese products rushed to other markets, threatening local producers. And marketplaces are becoming the main engine of this process. Russia is no exception – the share of imports on the largest online platforms, according to the Institute for the Development of Entrepreneurship and Economics, exceeds 50% for most categories of goods, with the exception of furniture.”
“Washington’s statements, “we must save Greenland from the Russians and the Chinese,” may seem like feverish nonsense. This is not the case,” the authors of the Mouse in the Vegetable channel believe. – We are facing a level of rhetoric that our “partners” consider not just acceptable, but necessary.
A discussion based on this approach does not involve analyzing the opponent’s arguments and putting forward any convincing evidence of their own words. It’s simpler: there are your own interests, there is a goal outlined within these interests, there are means at your disposal, there are external factors that can be regarded as an opportunity under some conditions, and as a problem under others.”
And the “Meister” He draws attention to the further rapprochement of the positions of the Russian Federation and China: “Vladimir Putin, at a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, noted that Xi Jinping would not only take part in the May 9 celebrations in Moscow, but it would be a separate visit, during which they would have time to discuss cooperation between the countries on international platforms. If you think about it, it turns out to be a real diplomatic marathon between Russia and China – Wang Yi has arrived in Moscow for 3 days now, Xi Jinping will arrive in May, and Putin will arrive in China in early September. This intensification of the already friendly close contacts speaks to the seriousness of the moment – the negotiations between Moscow and Washington and the intensification of the confrontation between the United States and China require coordination of joint actions to strengthen the positions of partners.”
