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US-China relations
ChinaDiplomacy

China-US summit hopes fade as Trump goes hard on tariffs, Taiwan, upending detente: analysts

Washington has changed its tune on Beijing, mistakenly believing that China will yield, observer says

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US President Donald Trump’s aggressive playbook towards China includes slapping tariffs, playing the Taiwan card, and flexing muscle through Indo-Pacific allies. Photo: EPA-EFE
Shi JiangtaoandLaura Zhou
A series of provocative moves by the US administration of President Donald Trump, paired with his renewed tariff war, are poised to escalate tensions with Beijing, dimming hopes for a summit between the Chinese and American leaders, according to observers.
Just two months into his second term, Trump’s aggressive playbook – including introducing tariffs, playing the Taiwan card, and flexing muscle through Indo-Pacific allies – threatened to unravel months of uneasy detente, pushing the two countries closer to confrontation, they warned.

In an interview in Moscow with state-controlled TV network Russia Today, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China would take action if the US used fentanyl smuggling as an excuse to put tariffs on China.

If it really wanted to solve the fentanyl problem, “the US should abolish the unjustified tariffs and engage in consultations with China on an equal footing”, Wang said on Tuesday.

“America first” should not be American-style bullying and the US must not base its own interests on harming the legitimate rights and interests of other countries, he added.

Last week, during his first Asia tour, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed to deploy additional advanced capabilities to help the Philippines fend off China and called Japan an “indispensable partner in deterring Communist Chinese military aggression”.

Throughout his trip, which included stops in Tokyo, Manila, Hawaii and Guam, Hegseth stressed the need to “re-establish” deterrence against China in the disputed East and South China seas and near Taiwan, which Beijing views as a breakaway province that must be reunited one day, by force if necessary.

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