Conversation
01.24.18
Is China Really a ‘Threat’ to the U.S.?
In a move presaging tougher policies towards China, the Department of Defense’s National Defense Strategy announced that the “revisionist powers” China and Russia are the “central challenge to U.S. prosperity and security.” And on January 22, Donald...
Infographics
01.19.18
China According to Trump
Keeping up with the Trump administration’s statements on China and U.S.-China relations can be hard work. ChinaFile has just made it easier. Our new interactive database contains a growing collection of quotations from the President and senior...
Conversation
01.10.18
Trump on China in 2018: Lover or Hater?
On December 28, 2017, Donald Trump told The New York Times “I like very much” China’s Communist Party Secretary Xi Jinping, adding, “He treated me better than anybody’s ever been treated in the history of China.” In the same interview, Trump also...
China in the World Podcast
01.09.18
What’s Next for Commercial Diplomacy with China?
from Carnegie China
As the chief commercial advocate for U.S. businesses in policymaking, the Department of Commerce plays a crucial role in the U.S.-China trade and economic relationship. In the 99th episode of the China in the World Podcast, Paul Haenle spoke with...
China in the World Podcast
12.22.17
Shifts in U.S. Global Leadership
from Carnegie China
Power in the world is increasingly being measured and exercised in economic terms with China, and other significant countries are already treating economic power as a core part of their statecraft. But Jake Sullivan, a former senior official in the...
Conversation
12.19.17
Trump’s National Security Strategy and China
On December 18, U.S. President Donald J. Trump announced the United States’ new national security strategy. He called China a “strategic competitor,” and, along with Russia, called it a “revisionist power.” Those two nations, Trump said, are...
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12.18.17Trump National Security Strategy Sees U.S. Confronting China and Russia
New York Times
President Trump’s first national security strategy envisions a world in which the United States confronts two “revisionist” powers — China and Russia — that are seeking to change the global status quo, often to the detriment of America’s interests.
China in the World Podcast
12.01.17
Breaking Down Trump’s Visit to Asia
from Carnegie China
What is the future of geopolitics and U.S. engagement in the Asia-Pacific following President Donald Trump’s first official state visit to the region? In this podcast, Paul Haenle sat down with Daniel Russel, former Special Assistant to President...
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11.28.17US Charges 3 Chinese Nationals with Hacking, Stealing Intellectual Property from Companies
CNN
The charges being brought in Pittsburgh allege that the hackers stole intellectual property from several companies, including Trimble, a maker of navigation systems; Siemens, a German technology company with major operations in the US; and Moody’s...
Viewpoint
11.22.17
The Accomplice in Chief
Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump declared victory following his 12-day Asia trip. On the campaign trail, Trump had repeatedly promised to stop making nice with his country’s adversaries; now, thanks to his efforts, he proclaimed, “America is...
Viewpoint
11.17.17
China and the United States Are Equals. Now What?
Donald Trump’s Asia trip was historic in one respect: it belatedly focused American attention on the competition between the United States and China for global primacy. China has risen, the era of uncontested American leadership has ended, and any...
ChinaFile Recommends
11.17.17Trump Hails China's North Korea Envoy as 'Big Move' but Experts Doubtful
CNN
US President Donald Trump has hailed the Chinese government sending an envoy to North Korea Friday as a "big move" in the wake of his five-country trip to Asia.
ChinaFile Recommends
11.16.17Donald Trump Tells UCLA Trio to Thank Xi Jinping for Releasing Them from China
South China Morning Post
US President Donald Trump has exhorted three suspended UCLA basketball players to thank Chinese President Xi Jinping for their freedom following a shoplifting incident while they were in China.
ChinaFile Recommends
11.16.17'It's a Mistake to Underestimate China'
Atlantic
At the recent APEC CEO Summit in Vietnam, President Donald Trump said the United States would refocus its existing development efforts in Asia toward infrastructure investment that promotes economic growth.
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11.16.17Donald Trump Tells UCLA Trio to Thank Xi Jinping for Releasing Them from China
South China Morning Post
U.S. President Donald Trump has exhorted three suspended UCLA basketball players to thank Chinese President Xi Jinping for their freedom following a shoplifting incident while they were in China.
ChinaFile Recommends
11.16.17China Appears to Have Crossed Trump on North Korea
Business Insider
After a 12-day trip to Asia in which President Donald Trump stressed his friendship and mutual understanding with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Beijing appears to have crossed Trump on a key issue: North Korea.
ChinaFile Recommends
11.15.17Three UCLA Players Return from China to Calls for Suspensions — and a Twitter Scolding from Trump
Washington Post
The three UCLA players who were detained in China for shoplifting returned to the U.S. on Tuesday night, following intervention from, among others, President Trump. As immensely relieved as LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley must be to have...
ChinaFile Recommends
11.15.17China Could Sell Trump the Brooklyn Bridge
New York Times
There is a saying, “When you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there,” and it perfectly sums up the contrast between China’s President Xi Jinping and President Trump.
Media
11.15.17
What Happened When Trump Met Xi?
An edited transcript of “ChinaFile Presents: What Happened When Trump Met Xi?” a discussion of Donald Trump’s five-country trip to Asia with Daniel Russel, Bonnie Glaser, and Orville Schell, moderated by Susan Jakes. The panel took place at Asia...
Conversation
11.14.17
Was the Trump-Xi Summit in Beijing a Hit or a Miss?
On November 8 and 9, Communist Party Secretary Xi Jinping and Donald Trump held their first Beijing-based summit, a year after Trump’s surprise victory and just weeks after the predictable announcement Xi would serve a second term. During the visit...
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11.13.17Behind the Scenes, Communist Strategist Presses China’s Rise
New York Times
He was a brilliant student during the dark days of China’s Cultural Revolution. He visited America, and left unimpressed with democracy. Plucked from academia, he climbed the ladder of Beijing’s brutal politics.
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11.13.17China’s Three New Economic Challenges for the U.S.
Washington Post
President Donald Trump is scheduled to attend the Nov. 13-14 East Asia Summit, the last stop on a lengthy Asia trip. This year’s meeting brings together the leaders of 16 Asia-Pacific countries, the United States, Canada and Russia for a discussion...
ChinaFile Recommends
11.13.17Trump Humbled in China as Beijing Visit Underlines the New World Order in Asia
South China Morning Post
Of the stops on Donald Trump’s five-country trip to Asia, the one that stands out is Beijing. After all, China is considered America’s biggest regional rival, and often the object of the president’s non-stop tirades.
Viewpoint
11.10.17
Bathed in the Xi Jinping Bromance
Sitting in a grand salon of the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square and awaiting the official arrival ceremony of President Trump was to be taken back to that period of Sino-Soviet amity when Stalin was Mao’s “big brother” and the Chinese...
ChinaFile Recommends
11.10.17AP FACT CHECK: US-China Trade Package Mostly about Symbolism
Washington Post
A trade and investment package announced during President Donald Trump’s visit to China is more about the art of diplomacy than the art of the deal.
Viewpoint
11.09.17
Protecting the Rights of the Accused in U.S.-China Relations
As President Donald Trump visits China, the Chinese government wishes that billionaire fugitive Guo Wengui would follow suit and board a plane to Beijing. For months, he has regaled the world from his luxury apartment in Manhattan with stories of...
ChinaFile Recommends
11.09.17Donald Trump and Xi Jinping's Grand Gestures Can't Paper over Diplomatic Divide
South China Morning Post
China and the United States announced a record-breaking “gift pack” of a quarter of a trillion US dollars worth of business deals as the presidents of the two nations wrapped up their talks on Thursday.
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11.09.17China's CEOs View Trump as a Dealmaker
Bloomberg
President Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ rhetoric on trade has prompted concerns among many that his words could soon be matched by action. Chinese executives say they’re not worried.
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11.09.17Trump Touts 'Great Chemistry' with China's Xi as Leaders Agree to Closer Ties
NPR
President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping say they have agreed to work together on the denuclearization of North Korea and closer cooperation on trade.
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11.09.17Despite Trump's Pleas, China's Online Opioid Bazaar Is Booming
New York Times
President Trump is looking to President Xi Jinping to “do something” about America’s opioid epidemic, for which he blames China.
ChinaFile Recommends
11.09.17Trump Is Ceding Global Leadership to China
New York Times
Amid the pomp that President Xi Jinping of China is bestowing upon his visiting American counterpart, President Trump, it’s hard not to see two leaders — and two countries — heading in very different directions.
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11.09.17U.S. Companies Signed a Ton of Deals during Trump's China Trip
Fortune
U.S. companies, from chip giant Qualcomm to aircraft maker Boeing, announced a slew of deals on Thursday during U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing. The deals could be valued as much as $250 billion, though some have been long in the...
ChinaFile Recommends
11.08.17Trump, in China, Seeks Help Over a Nuclear North Korea
New York Times
President Trump arrived in China on Wednesday, primed to ask his host, President Xi Jinping, to step up Chinese pressure on North Korea over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. But Mr. Trump’s latest foray into personal diplomacy may end in...
ChinaFile Recommends
11.08.17Shaky U.S.-China Trade Relationship Will Top Trump's Agenda in Beijing
NPR
Soft lounge music pipes through the speakers as elegantly dressed shoppers peruse organic produce and meats at City'super, one of Shanghai's most upscale markets, a cross between Whole Foods and Louis Vuitton. But one look at the price of...
ChinaFile Recommends
11.08.17Trump’s Granddaughter Plays Diplomat Once More as She Sings for ‘Grandpa’ Xi Jinping
South China Morning Post
She might be only five years old, but Arabella Kushner played her diplomatic role perfectly again on Wednesday as she helped ease the interaction between two of the world’s most powerful men – Chinese President Xi Jinping and her grandfather, Donald.
Viewpoint
11.08.17
Will Trump’s ‘Flattery Machine’ Work on Xi Jinping?
Before winging off to Beijing, Trump managed to convince his staff and Korean President Moon to take him to the demilitarized zone (DMZ). Many of his aides were said to have been wary about the idea, fearing he might make some kind of provocative...
ChinaFile Recommends
11.07.17Ex-Spy on What His CIA Experience Taught Him about China
NPR
Randy Phillips spent 28 years with the CIA, most recently serving as the chief CIA representative in China. He talks about what leverage the U.S. has when it comes to managing China's ambitions.
ChinaFile Recommends
11.07.17Big Stakes in Beijing: A Triumphant Xi vs. A Chastised Trump
Washington Post
When China rolls out the red carpet for Donald Trump, the grandeur of its welcome for the larger-than-life American president will mask a sobering reality.
Viewpoint
11.07.17
Sticking to the Script, Trump Seems to Internalize It
Slowly we are stitching our way across Asia on Donald J. Trump’s great five-nation oriental hegira. After a punishing 2:00 a.m. departure from Yokota Air Force Base outside Tokyo, we arrived this morning at Osan Air Base outside of Seoul, a reminder...
ChinaFile Recommends
11.07.17Wooing Trump, Xi Jinping Seeks Great Power Status for China
New York Times
Chinese leaders have long sought to present themselves as equals to American presidents. Xi Jinping has wanted something more: a special relationship that sets China apart, as the other great power in an emerging bipolar world.
Viewpoint
11.06.17
On the Road with Trump in Asia: Day One, Tokyo
Many are fearful that Xi Jinping’s ability to awe his visitors with over-the-top manifestations of pomp and ceremony will turn Donald Trump to Jell-o. But having watched Trump arrive in Japan yesterday on the first leg of his five-country trip, it’s...
Conversation
11.02.17
Trump Goes to Asia
Chinese officials like to talk about practicing “win-win” diplomacy. Their American counterparts sometime joke that this means China wins twice. From November 3 to November 14, Donald Trump will visit Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines,...
ChinaFile Recommends
10.27.17Why Trump's Fawning over China's Xi Jinping Probably Won't Work
New Yorker
A couple of weeks ago, The Economist put a drawing of Xi Jinping, the President of China, on its cover under a headline that said “The world’s most powerful man.” In an editorial in the same issue, the editors acknowledged that China is still no...
ChinaFile Recommends
10.26.17Kushner Will Take a Diminished Role on Trump’s China Trip
Politico
Back in December 2016, the Chinese foreign minister traveled to Manhattan to meet privately with Jared Kushner for emergency discussions after President-elect Donald Trump’s unorthodox phone call with the president of Taiwan.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.26.17China’s Communist Party Has Come of Age – the West Should Wake Up
Guardian
The Chinese Communist party congress displayed all the qualities beloved by Leninist institutions over the ages, of deep secrecy mixed with stern pageantry, leveraged in the service of reinforcing their leaders’ inviolate right to rule.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.25.17Singapore’s Delicate Balancing Act between the US and China
CNN
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong may have been in Washington on Monday to consolidate his country's economic and political partnerships with the US, but he appeared to dedicate much of his time concentrating on another nation whose...
ChinaFile Recommends
10.19.17China Warns US to Drop Its Bias after Tillerson’s ‘Blunt’ Message
South China Morning Post
Beijing warned the United States to drop its bias against China after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Washington wanted to “dramatically deepen” ties with New Delhi to counter China’s influence in Asia.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.18.17China’s Challenges Abroad: How Do You Solve a Problem Like North Korea?
Forbes
The importance of the Chinese Communist Party’s 19th party congress to the future of Xi Jinping’s leadership and the direction of China has paralyzed policy debates on many issues, including North Korea. The paralysis has persisted despite the...
ChinaFile Recommends
10.12.17Xi Jinping Has More Clout Than Donald Trump. The World Should Be Wary
Economist
American presidents have a habit of describing their Chinese counterparts in terms of awe. A fawning Richard Nixon said to Mao Zedong that the chairman’s writings had “changed the world”. To Jimmy Carter, Deng Xiaoping was a string of flattering...
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10.12.17China Threatens U.S. Congress for Crossing Its ‘Red Line’ on Taiwan
Washington Post
In a rare pressure campaign, the Chinese government is demanding that the U.S. Congress back off passing new laws that would strengthen the U.S. relationship with Taiwan. Beijing’s efforts are the latest sign that it is stepping up its campaign to...
The NYRB China Archive
10.12.17
The Chinese World Order
from New York Review of Books
Ten years ago the journalist James Mann published a book called The China Fantasy, in which he criticized American policymakers for using something he called “the Soothing Scenario” to justify the policy of diplomatic and economic engagement with...
ChinaFile Recommends
10.11.17China Grabbed American as Spy Wars Flare
Politico
The sun was setting over Chengdu when they grabbed the American. It was January 2016. The U.S. official had been working out of the American consulate in the central Chinese metropolis of more than 10 million. He may not have seen the plainclothes...
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10.06.17U.S. Confronts China over Suspected Cyberattack as Fugitive Guo Wengui Appears in Washington
Washington Post
A suspected Chinese cyberattack on the website of a prominent Washington think tank drew a complaint from U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions this week in a meeting with top Chinese government officials.
10.05.17
Foreign NGO Law Discussed at the First U.S.-China Social and Cultural Dialogue
The Foreign NGO Law and civil society cooperation more generally featured at the inaugural U.S.-China Social and Cultural Dialogue on September 28. As described in the U.S. statement on the dialogue, “Both sides discussed China’s foreign NGO...
ChinaFile Recommends
10.05.17Bannon’s Back and Targeting China
Bloomberg
As President Trump’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon operated mostly behind the scenes to press his hard-right brand of nationalist politics, with only intermittent success. Since leaving the White House on Aug. 18, he’s taken on a much more public...
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10.05.17White House Conducting Wide-Ranging Review of China Policy
Politico
The White House is quietly conducting a comprehensive review of its approach toward China, according to administration officials and outside advisers with knowledge of the plan.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.05.17High-Level US-China Talks Focus on Immigration, Fugitives
Voice of America
Shilan Zhao, former wife of fugitive Chinese official Jianjun Qiao, pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges by the U.S. government of conspiring to commit immigration fraud related to the EB5 “investor” visa program.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.04.17Ivanka Trump’s Business in China Shrouded in Secrecy as Public Trade Data Disappears
Independent
It is no secret that the bulk of Ivanka Trump's merchandise comes from China. But just which Chinese companies manufacture and export her handbags, shoes and clothes is more secret than ever, an Associated Press investigation has found.
Media
09.29.17
Trump on China
In the run-up to and during his race toward the presidency of the United States, Donald Trump made frequent statements about China, its people, and the government in Beijing, in remarks that ranged from effusive praise to outright attack, and which...
ChinaFile Recommends
09.28.17How China and America Can Protect the World’s Antiquities
Foreign Affairs
In 1971, a ping-pong match between the U.S. and Chinese national teams helped open relations between the two countries. Since then, people-to-people diplomacy has been a bright spot in otherwise tense interactions. But civil society engagement has...