BEIJING \u2013 People in Beijing expressed doubts Saturday about President Donald Trump\u2019s ability to steer the U. S. economy and manage China-American relations, underscoring concerns over trade, Taiwan and other issues.
While Trump didn\u2019t mention China in his inaugural address Friday, he referred often to the country during the campaign and upended diplomatic protocol after the election by speaking on the phone with the president of self-governing Taiwan, the island China considers its own territory.
Aaron Wang, who works for a logistics company, said he hoped for the best but was wary of Trump\u2019s threat to disrupt commerce between the countries, including imposing a 45 percent tariff on Chinese imports.
\u201cI will wait and see what Trump actually does in the future, but I do hope that the China-U. S. relations can develop in a good direction under Trump\u2019s presidency,\u201d said Wang.
A retired teacher, who would only give her surname, Wei, said Trump hadn\u2019t yet shown that he could handle the U. S. presidency.
\u201cIt\u2019s really uncertain whether he can properly run the U. S.,\u201d Wei said. \u201cA business person can run a country very well, but he can also do a very bad job.\u201d
On a visit to Beijing, Dunkin\u2019 Brands CEO Nigel Davis said he wanted to reinforce the importance of global free trade to Trump, who opposes the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership and has suggested he might renegotiate the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement.
\u201cI will give him concrete examples and talk to him about how you can overcome obstacles,\u201d Davis said.
China is the world\u2019s second-largest economy behind the U. S., and Trump railed during his campaign against alleged Chinese cheating at trade and manipulation of its currency. Those assertions came despite evidence that for the past couple of years, China has been intervening in markets to prop up its currency, not push it lower in a manner that would benefit exporters to the detriment of U. S. businesses.
China\u2019s economy slowed over the past year and exports fell back into contraction last month, signaling renewed weakness as it faces possible trade tensions under Trump. However, China still sells considerably more to the United States than it buys, resulting in a trade deficit in goods amounted to $289 billion through the first 10 months of 2016.
In a commentary on Trump\u2019s inaugural address, the official Global Times newspaper said he had made a number of \u201clofty promises\u201d but offered few details on how he intended to carry them out.
\u201cIt remains to be seen if he can keep his ambitious promise throughout his term \u2014 correcting the domestic and foreign policies and the world order he believes to have strayed off track,\u201d the paper said.
The commentary also stated that Trump has yet to formulate a China policy despite his constant references to the country during the presidential election campaign.
\u201cHis China policy will hinge on how well he understands the overlapping interests of the world\u2019s two largest economies, how their national interests intertwine, and whether he is motivated to change the existing structure with force,\u201d the paper said.
Along with stating that relations with Beijing were open for re-negotiation, Trump has criticized China\u2019s creation of man-made islands in the South China Sea furnished with airstrips and military infrastructure.<\/p>\n