Open QuestionsChina may be stunned by Trump’s lack of caution and understanding: ex-diplomat Kerry Brown
King’s College, London professor says he ‘cannot think of a worse tactic’ than threatening Beijing and presenting ‘zero-sum’ options
Kerry Brown is professor of Chinese studies at King’s College, London, whose research focuses on Chinese elite politics and its diplomatic strategies. Brown lived in the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia between 1994 and 1996 and worked as a British diplomat in Beijing from 1998 to 2005 and served as the first secretary in Beijing from 2000 to 2003.
We want to start with the latest tariff situation between China and the US. In your view, how might this affect their respective economies as well as the broader global economy? As the United States continues to exert maximum pressure on China, how should China respond strategically?
I think China was expecting this, and in many ways set in place some degree of diversification and policy response to what Trump is doing. It has markets and supplies now in the Global South and has been working on these since the start of the pandemic.