Going soft on China doesn’t work

Several decades of history have shown that accommodating Beijing on trade will not yield greater collaboration in foreign policy

ince his inauguration, United States President Donald Trump has backed off several core campaign positions, including making a stark reversal of his posture towards China. He has explained that rather than pursue a toughon-China trade policy, he will capitulate on US trade interests to win Beijing’s cooperation on North Korea. Taking a softer tack on China is misguided: It will hurt hundreds of thousands of US workers and businesses, without changing Beijing’s behaviour. The best and perhaps the only way to achieve results with China is to be strong and consistent about our priorities — on economic and national security issues — rather than the reverse.

Bolstering American economy and creating good-paying jobs are two of the most important goals that a president can pursue, especially given middle-class stagnation and discontent. Failing to address China’s unfair advantage on trade will mean hundreds of thousands of American workers and businesses must continue to compete on a skewed playing field. By dumping counterfeit and artificially cheap goods into American markets, denying the most productive US companies fair access to its markets and relentlessly stealing the intellectual property of US companies, China has robbed the US economy of trillions of dollars and caused the loss of millions of US jobs. Estimates by the American government pin the cost of cyber espionage alone at $400 billion (Dh1.47 trillion) a year to the US economy, 90 per cent of which comes from China’s government. Retired General Keith Alexander, the former director of America’s National Security Agency, has called the loss of industrial information and intellectual property through cybertheft “the greatest transfer of wealth in history”. The American worker can illafford another soft-on-China presidency.

Under Chinese President Xi Jinping, Beijing will continue to act in its self-interest, unless the US does something to alter the status quo. And yet, despite numerous promises during the presidential election campaign to crack down on these unfair practices by China, Trump has failed to take any significant action after almost five months in office. In fact, he has made trade threats against US allies such as Canada and South Korea while giving China a pass.

Misreading motivations

The reason? Trump believes that obliging China on trade will win its cooperation in handling North Korea. He’s gone so far as to promise even more favourable trade terms if China can “solve the North Korea problem”. This approach deeply misreads China’s motivations, and the president seems to have just realised it. He recently tweeted: “While I greatly appreciate the efforts of President Xi & China to help with North Korea, it has not worked out. At least I know China tried!” We will wait to see if this tweet actually signals a shift in US policy, but no doubt it is a confession that the US president’s conciliatory approach towards China has failed.

China has its own interests in a denuclearised Korean Peninsula. It wants to maintain a divided Korea, with North Korea as a buffer state. Concerned about the prospect of increased US pressure, it has taken a few small steps in recent months to curb North Korea’s aggression. But China would prefer to contain the problem, not solve it.

To get China to actually bear down on its ally North Korea, the US must have some leverage in dealing with Beijing. Because China’s government cares most about economic growth, trade and dominance in the region, our best bet is to be tough on trade and straightforward about our own national security interests in the region. In truth, no one has a perfect solution to dealing with North Korea, but what absolutely doesn’t make sense is a Trump strategy that undermines South Korea and sells out American workers in the vague hope that China will start cooperating with the US out of its good graces.

Rather than retreating from his position on trade, Trump should start consistently enforcing trade laws. Rather than retreating from America’s ally South Korea, Trump should strengthen ties. He ought to focus less on flattery and charm and heed former US president Theodore Roosevelt’s admonition to “speak softly and carry a big stick”. That’s the best way to help American workers and businesses. It’s the best way to get China to cooperate on North Korea, too. Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, represents New York in the US Senate and serves as minority leader.