An opportunity that President-elect Donald Trump is hoping for Sen. Marco Rubio and Deputy Mike Waltz as indicated by his secretary of state and national security adviser, respectively China It will be at the center of US foreign policy, deepening US-China tensions.
Rubio and Waltz are both staunch China hawks. In fact, Rubio was sanctioned twice by Beijing in 2020 and may still be banned from entering China.
The nominations of Rubio and Waltz “are a strong signal that Trump’s foreign policy priority will focus on China,” said Neil Thomas, a China policy fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis. Although the focus will be on finding solutions to foreign wars in the short term, “China will be the main focus in the next four years,” he said.
This continues what Waltz himself said. Earlier this month, he wrote in The Economist newspaper that the US should “urgently” end the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East so that the US can “finally focus its strategic attention where it needs to be: dealing with the bigger threat”. Chinese Communist Party”.
In this shared file, Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Florida, speaks outside the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump in New York on May 16, 2024, while Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida speaks on the second day of the 2024 Republican primary. National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 16, 2024.
AP Photo and AFP via Getty Images, FILE
Rubio called China “the threat that will define this century” and supported a bill to prevent the importation of goods made by China’s Uyghur minority. Waltz, who has said the US is in a “cold war” with China, has called for the US to boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Trump has vowed to impose 60% tariffs on Chinese goods. Experts say he will likely act on the tariffs in his administration as an easy victory he can act on unilaterally to show he is keeping a key campaign promise. It will be deeply disruptive for US-China relations and for US companies, so experts say Trump’s allies in the business world are likely to lobby heavily to reduce tariffs on some key sectors.
In addition to the tariffs, the U.S. has a “huge tool of economic warfare” that the Trump administration could use, according to Thomas, by imposing more sanctions on Chinese companies and expanding export controls to more industries.
But billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk could be a moderating voice for a softer approach to China amid all this. Musk has deep business interests in China and could become a key broker for talks between Trump and China’s Xi Jinping.
Telsa is dependent on China for production and as a major consumer market. Musk is popular in China and gets the red carpet when Chinese officials visit.
Musk could become the “main interlocutor” between Xi and Trump, according to Eurasia Group founder Ian Bremmer. “I think Elon would definitely be interested.”
The Chinese government will “certainly” contact Musk to see how they can use him to influence Trump, Bremmer added.
Half of all Tesla EVs are made in China, and Musk has received benefits from the Chinese government that are rarely given to foreign players. Musk has also embraced Beijing’s views on geopolitical issues, saying Taiwan is “an integral part of China.”
Regardless, Beijing is preparing for four eventful years under Trump. Beijing is trying to revive its struggling economy, and the uncertainty of a Trump presidency is “very worrying,” according to Bremmer. “In this environment they will want the relationship to be more constructive, because it is a bad time to have a crisis.”
