AFTER just one month in the White House, the new Trump administration has been making dramatic headlines on an almost daily basis, and it’s becoming clear that the coming four years will be both unconventional and unpredictable.
AFTER just one month in the White House, the new Trump administration has been making dramatic headlines on an almost daily basis, and it’s becoming clear that the coming four years will be both unconventional and unpredictable.
During his first four weeks, President Donald Trump has broken protocols, questioned the U. S.’s stance on critical foreign issues and disregarded decades-old policies. The current administration’s stance on many issues is ambiguous and unclear. For sensitive regions of the world, such as the Middle East and South China Sea, Trump’s unpredictable nature, which was on full display during a recent 75-minute ‘unhinged’ press conference , could raise tensions and ultimately lead to armed-conflict.
Trump’s apparent lack of tact was evident in a heated conversation with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, during which Trump hung up on the Australian leader. If such behaviour were displayed during communications with Beijing, relations between two of the world’s superpowers could seriously deteriorate.
Given the president’s habit of going off script, it was sensible that Trump’s first direct communications with the Chinese leadership took the form of a careful scripted communication followed by a short telephone conversation.
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It is also worth noting that these initial communications between Trump and Beijing took three weeks to orchestrate and only took place after Trump had formally accepted the conditions of the One China policy. While many world leaders were scrambling to build relations with the U. S.’s new commander-in-chief, China opted to stay patient, forcing Trump to bend to Beijing’s wishes.
The Chinese leadership has won the first ‘battle’ with the Trump’s administration, and the U. S. presidency has been labeled a ‘paper tiger’ by Chinese media. Although it is unlikely that the former reality TV star will continue to be restrained to such uncharacteristic communications for long.
As the past weeks have indicated, the responsibilities of commander-in-chief have not diluted the former reality TV star’s controversial agenda, as his executive orders to ban Muslims from entering the U. S. clearly testify. For Beijing to write off Trump as a president of talk and no action would be dangerous.
Residents in Asia have every reason to be concerned about Trump’s confrontational language towards China.
During his election campaign Trump accused China of “raping” the U. S. with unfair trade policies and has threatened to impose hefty taxes and tariffs on Chinese imports, suggesting a trade war is imminent.
