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Anthony Cheung

Much to the relief of markets, US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping finally met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea. The friendly meeting indicates both sides prefer a mode of “controlled” confrontation.
The bilateral relationship remains confrontational, nonetheless. Some give and take on trade certainly helps to de-escalate tensions, but China has no illusions about the US’ fundamental hostility.
Trump prides himself on his ability to end conflicts by coercion, but the US no longer calls the shots everywhere all the time. Smaller nations may have to succumb to his tariff threats, but the big powers can afford to defy him.
Despite his isolationist image, Trump’s agenda differs from the aspirations of some Maga (Make America Great Again) supporters. Deep down, he is an opportunist. Having used his presidential powers to subdue domestic opposition, he now has a freer hand to flex American muscle on foreign soil. Under him, the US will not hesitate to weaponise anything to twist the arms of allies and adversaries alike.
The rest of the world is adjusting to Trumpian disruptions and harassment. As Singapore’s former prime minister Lee Hsien Loong pointed out in July, we must learn to live with “the world, temporarily minus one”, namely a framework without the US, at least for the time being.
The global economy continues to be unstable. But the International Monetary Fund’s latest forecast of 3.2 per cent growth for 2025 and 3.1 per cent growth for 2026, revised upwards from April this year, suggests economies are making policy adjustments to navigate the changing landscape. Meanwhile, the emergence of central bank digital currencies will weaken the dominance of the US dollar.


China knows well that any negotiated bargain must be grounded in comparative advantages. On economic and foreign policies, it is re-strategising. It is diversifying its global trade footprint to be less dependent on the US. While the share of its exports to the US has dropped from 20 per cent of total exports in 2018 to just 10 per cent by mid-2025, its total exports have surged. In the second quarter of this year, its exports to the rest of the world grew by 11 per cent year on year.
The draft 15th five-year plan just endorsed by the Communist Party’s Central Committee calls for self-reliance and technological autonomy to prevent China being held to ransom by the US. Strategic materials such as rare earths are subject to stringent export controls. Measures have been stepped up to boost productivity and domestic demand, as well as stabilise the property sector and clear bad debts. Regional development will accelerate.
The Global Governance Initiative recently launched by Xi details China’s own principles on engaging the world, emphasising sovereign equality, international rule of law, multilateralism, a people-centred approach and taking real action. A multipolar world needs to establish new platforms for cooperation that truly respect the interests of nations large and small, bridging the Global North and Global South.
The West used to be a source of inspiration for Asians, but increasingly less so, partly because the East has risen and partly because of US double standards in international affairs.
The rise of Asia is transforming the world. As resurgent giants, both China and India no longer dance to the tune of the West. Being millennia-old civilisations, they will chart the next phase of their modernisation by drawing on their own legacy.


The US and Europe may find the shifting balance of global power uncomfortable and feel insecure. US-China relations are seen as analogous to a Thucydides’ Trap. But such warmongering rhetoric only breeds a politics of fear. The West needs to renew its understanding of Asia, not least its history and values.
Not just Trump but American politicians in general seem to see China as a civilisational challenge. However, depicting China as a military aggressor overlooks the fact that China was a victim of long years of foreign aggression and suffered bloodshed in its recent history. China wants a peaceful world to grow its economy. By contrast, the US engaged in several wars that ended tragically – Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Mao Zedong’s tit-for-tat dictum remains the key to understanding China’s military policy: it will not start an aggression but has second-strike determination and capabilities. Addressing the United Nations in 1974, Deng Xiaoping promised China would never become an imperialist hegemon. Should that happen, he urged the world – along with the Chinese people – to fight and topple it.

Today, China is strong enough economically, militarily, technologically and culturally to say no to the US. It is confident enough to champion a non-Western narrative. That said, the US remains a power to be reckoned with. China, still a developing country, has its own structural problems. The last thing it needs is to get carried away by its own progress so far.
China’s party-state system may well cause doubts among liberal minds in the West and elsewhere. To win hearts and minds, Beijing should promote greater openness, plurality and creativity through deepening reforms, not just collective discipline. American democracy, whose defects have been sharply exposed under Trump, is no prescription for the world.
Every nation and culture pursues its own path of modernisation. China’s way may or may not work for others, but it shows them the importance of self-determination and self-strengthening.


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China will find its own modernisation path, not on US terms

US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping talk as they leave after a bilateral meeting at Gimhae International Airport, on the sidelines of the APEC summit, in Busan, South Korea, on October 30. Photo: Reuters 

Deng Xiaoping, then China’s vice-premier, addresses the UN General Assembly in April 1974. Photo: Xinhua

Xi-Trump summit breakthroughs are a net positive for China

US President Donald Trump speaks to Chinese President Xi Jinping following their meeting at the Naraemaru reception hall inside an air force base in Busan, South Korea, on October 30. Photo: EPA/Yonhap South Korea

China’s development model is reverberating around the world

Illustration: Craig Stephens

Workers assemble a car inside BYD’s electric vehicle factory in Rayong, Thailand, on July 4, 2024. Photo: Reuters

Gone are the days of unlimited US power in Southeast Asia

From the left, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, East Timor’s Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, US President Donald Trump, Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet mingle during the Asean Summit at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in Malaysia, on October 26. Photo: EPA / Pool

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a bilateral meeting between Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim during the Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on October 26. Photo: Reuters

Chinese Premier Li Qiang (right) walks with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim as he arrives at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre to attend the Asean Summit in Malaysia, on October 27. Photo: Pool Photo via AP

The quiet US-China tech contest for the future

Engineers run with a robot taking part in a half marathon race in Beijing, on April 19. Photo: Reuters

An aerial view of a data centre in Ashburn, Virginia, in the US, on October 20. Photo: Reuters

A visitor inquires about a car equipped with smart driving capabilities during the China Motor Show in Tianjin, on September 30. Photo: Xinhua

China’s next power move is as much in the fields as in factories

Rice is harvested in a paddy field as a high-speed train zooms past in the background, in Hangzhou in east China’s Zhejiang Province on October 21. Photo: Xinhua

A farmer uses a drone to spray pesticides and fertiliser on rice crop in Jinhua, in China’s eastern Zhejiang province on June 20. Photo: AFP

Opinion

China Opinion

World Opinion

News

China

World

The Trump presidency has exposed America’s flaws for the world to see. The rest of the world is adjusting, and will learn for now to get on without it


The Trump presidency has exposed America’s flaws for the world to see. The rest of the world is adjusting, and will learn for now to get on without it.


Donald Trump

Xi Jinping

US-China trade war

US-China trade war: Opinion

US-China trade war: All stories

US-China tech war

United States

Singapore

Deng Xiaoping

Lee Hsien Loong

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


China will find its own modernisation path, not on US terms

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The Trump presidency has exposed America’s flaws for the world to see. The rest of the world is adjusting, and will learn for now to get on without it

The Trump presidency has exposed America’s flaws for the world to see. The rest of the world is adjusting, and will learn for now to get on without it