No. of Recommendations: 6
China risks looking like the irresponsible hegemon that it often accuses the United States of being.
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China has a negotiating problem. Their opponent, President Trump, is a bully who loves to negotiate with the subtleness of a wrecking ball. He acts as if he is the only big guy in the room. China considers itself (at least) the equal to the US and PM Xi is every bit as powerful as Trump. Therefore, they will act in a way to reenforce those facts and (using Trumps analogy) show that they hold card which are just as potent as any Trump may be willing to play. Recent history shows that, like a schoolyard bully, when confronted by a "strongman" (as what has repeatedly been the case with President Putin of Russia) Trump will quickly reverse direction.
Trump has always attributed to others, the actions he was about to take, but China has beaten him to the punch. While Trump will repeatedly enjoy bombing tiny South American boats, I'm guessing he will stay far away from China's.
Jeff
