{"id":14130,"date":"2017-02-15T22:19:14","date_gmt":"2017-02-15T14:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinaworker.info\/?p=14130"},"modified":"2017-02-16T15:01:28","modified_gmt":"2017-02-16T07:01:28","slug":"trump-backs-down-over-one-china-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/02\/15\/14130\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump backs down over \u2018One China\u2019 policy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Round One to Xi Jinping?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vincent Kolo, chinaworker.info<\/p>\n

The deepening crisis in Washington over the resignation of Michael Flynn and the Trump administration\u2019s alleged contacts with Russian intelligence, has overshadowed the significance of the US president\u2019s call to China\u2019s leader Xi Jinping last week, in which Trump performed a\u00a0political u-turn.<\/p>\n

On 9 February the two presidents spoke for the first time since Trump was sworn in. During what was described by the White House as a \u201clengthy\u201d and \u201cextremely cordial\u201d telephone call, Trump reaffirmed US acceptance of the \u2018One China\u2019 policy. This ended weeks of uncertainty following\u00a0Trump\u2019s 2 December phone call with Taiwan\u2019s president Tsai Ing-wen and subsequent statements by the then president-elect calling the almost 50-year-old diplomatic agreement between the two powers into question. On the campaign trail last year Trump consistently bashed China particularly over trade, saying it had economically \u201craped\u201d the US.<\/p>\n

The \u2018One China\u2019 policy means the US does not challenge the Chinese regime\u2019s claim over Taiwan, but unofficially maintains close diplomatic and military links with the island. By indicating he might throw the agreement into the melting pot of\u00a0future negotiations over trade, currency, military and other potentially contentious issues, Trump unnerved China\u2019s rulers and raised anxieties across the Asia-Pacific region. For more background read our article Trump and China: Heading for conflict?<\/a><\/p>\n

The key question following Trump\u2019s call to Xi is what does his climb down over \u2018One China\u2019 actually mean? Does it suggest smooth sailing ahead for US-China relations? An immediate sharpening of tensions between the two governments has been averted, but fundamentally nothing has changed. Xi is reported to have told Trump, \u201cThe two countries are totally capable of becoming good cooperative partners.\u201d This is wishful thinking.<\/p>\n

Given what is a truly disastrous start to life, besieged by mass protests, muscle-flexing by the US judiciary, and deep divisions in Trump\u2019s Republican Party, his administration has decided to step away or at least postpone a conflict with China, much to the relief of its one-party dictatorship which, with a crucial leadership shake-up just months away, faces huge problems of its own.<\/p>\n

The New York Times reported that the Chinese side refused to take Trump\u2019s call without a prior commitment the \u2018One China\u2019 policy would be reaffirmed. This evidently paid off. With pressure building upon the Trump administration at home, it was they who blinked first. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was reportedly one of those pushing hardest for this concession to Xi\u00a0in order to diffuse tensions with Beijing.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Trump made his first official call to Xi Jinping on 9 February.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cPaper tiger\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The US media, mostly in the anti-Trump camp anyway, have been scathing in their reviews of the climb down. \u201cTrump\u2019s fiasco\u201d, was MSNBC\u2019s verdict. The New York Times quoted Chinese government advisor, Shi Yinhong, who was equally severe: \u201cTrump lost his first fight with Xi and he will be looked at as a paper tiger. This will be interpreted in China as a great success, achieved by Xi\u2019s approach of dealing with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Australian China expert and author Hugo White believes, \u201cThe Chinese will see him as weak. He has reinforced the impression in Beijing that Trump is not serious about managing the US-China relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

But while Beijing may draw some succour from this outcome, it is unlikely to lead to\u00a0a real change of course by the Trump administration. The crisis of US and global capitalism which gave rise to Trump\u2019s presidency is\u00a0sharpening global tensions across the board, which of course includes fiercer rivalry between the two biggest economies.<\/p>\n

Already some observers are warning Trump\u2019s concession to Xi might not mean much in the long term. \u201cIf China doesn\u2019t compromise on currency and trade, Trump might change his mind,\u201d said Willy Lam, a Hong Kong-based commentator.<\/p>\n

Beijing could find itself as one of the beneficiaries, in the short-term, of the incredible political mess the Trump team have landed themselves in \u2013 with their immigration and national security policies in shreds. This could keep Trump and his China hawks, such as Peter Navarro and Wilbur Ross who head the administration\u2019s\u00a0trade team, preoccupied with problems closer to home.<\/p>\n

Fundamentally, however, the situation has not changed. The anti-China bias in Trump\u2019s administration is a reflection of the global\u00a0crisis of capitalism. The drift towards nationalism and right-wing populism \u2013 in the US and China \u2013 can only be defeated by mass struggle and the construction of a new working class political alternative.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Trump forced to dump national security advisor Michael Flynn.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Round One to Xi Jinping?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":14132,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[132,148,124],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14130","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-china","8":"category-international","9":"category-news"},"yoast_head":"\nTrump backs down over \u2018One China\u2019 policy - China Worker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/02\/15\/14130\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump backs down over \u2018One China\u2019 policy - China Worker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Round One to Xi Jinping?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/02\/15\/14130\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"China Worker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SocialistAction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-02-15T14:19:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-02-16T07:01:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2017\/02\/xi-trump-20161114-e1487168093763.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"550\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"309\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/15\\\/14130\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/15\\\/14130\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Trump backs down over \u2018One China\u2019 policy\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-15T14:19:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-02-16T07:01:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/15\\\/14130\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":787,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/15\\\/14130\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/xi-trump-20161114-e1487168093763.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"China\",\"International\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/15\\\/14130\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/15\\\/14130\\\/\",\"name\":\"Trump backs down over \u2018One China\u2019 policy - China Worker\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/15\\\/14130\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/15\\\/14130\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/xi-trump-20161114-e1487168093763.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-15T14:19:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-02-16T07:01:28+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/15\\\/14130\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/15\\\/14130\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/15\\\/14130\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/xi-trump-20161114-e1487168093763.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/xi-trump-20161114-e1487168093763.jpg\",\"width\":550,\"height\":309,\"caption\":\"Trump made his first official call to Xi Jinping on 9 February.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/15\\\/14130\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u9996\u9801\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Trump backs down over \u2018One China\u2019 policy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"\u793e\u6703\u4e3b\u7fa9\u884c\u52d5\",\"description\":\"Solidarity, Struggle, Socialism\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Chinaworker.info\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/logo-sa.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/logo-sa.png\",\"width\":120,\"height\":126,\"caption\":\"Chinaworker.info\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/SocialistAction\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/socialistactionhk\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/author\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Trump backs down over \u2018One China\u2019 policy - China Worker","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/02\/15\/14130\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Trump backs down over \u2018One China\u2019 policy - China Worker","og_description":"Round One to Xi Jinping?","og_url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/02\/15\/14130\/","og_site_name":"China Worker","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SocialistAction","article_published_time":"2017-02-15T14:19:14+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-02-16T07:01:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":550,"height":309,"url":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2017\/02\/xi-trump-20161114-e1487168093763.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/02\/15\/14130\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/02\/15\/14130\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Trump backs down over \u2018One China\u2019 policy","datePublished":"2017-02-15T14:19:14+00:00","dateModified":"2017-02-16T07:01:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/02\/15\/14130\/"},"wordCount":787,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/02\/15\/14130\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2017\/02\/xi-trump-20161114-e1487168093763.jpg","articleSection":["China","International","News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/02\/15\/14130\/","url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/02\/15\/14130\/","name":"Trump backs down over \u2018One China\u2019 policy - China Worker","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/02\/15\/14130\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/02\/15\/14130\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2017\/02\/xi-trump-20161114-e1487168093763.jpg","datePublished":"2017-02-15T14:19:14+00:00","dateModified":"2017-02-16T07:01:28+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/02\/15\/14130\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/02\/15\/14130\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/02\/15\/14130\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2017\/02\/xi-trump-20161114-e1487168093763.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2017\/02\/xi-trump-20161114-e1487168093763.jpg","width":550,"height":309,"caption":"Trump made his first official call to Xi Jinping on 9 February."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2017\/02\/15\/14130\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u9996\u9801","item":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Trump backs down over \u2018One China\u2019 policy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/","name":"\u793e\u6703\u4e3b\u7fa9\u884c\u52d5","description":"Solidarity, Struggle, Socialism","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#organization","name":"Chinaworker.info","url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2021\/04\/logo-sa.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2021\/04\/logo-sa.png","width":120,"height":126,"caption":"Chinaworker.info"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SocialistAction","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/socialistactionhk\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/author\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}