China’s Xi Talks With Trump

In an editorial on Nov. 14, China’s {Global Times} said, “Based on media reports, the content of the phone call is diplomatically impeccable and has bolstered optimism over bilateral relations in the next four years. It said the communication between the two heralds an important step in the transition of Sino-U.S. relations and is a good start for diplomatic contacts between the leaders of both sides.”

It noted that “the outside world does not know much about Trump, other than he is a businessman and a presidential candidate, and most knowledge about him comes from mainstream U.S. media. However, the election result showed that those reports and descriptions about him are to a large extent twisted. The outside world must escape traditional information channels to understand Trump as president.”

Pointing out the failure of the Obama presidency, the editorial said: “Over the past eight years, U.S. President Barack Obama is generally believed to have been a moderate president. But he has been profoundly affected by the U.S. elites’ traditional political mindset. His understanding of the world is mainly based on a Cold War mentality. Therefore, he accepted former U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s diplomatic strategy—squeezing Russia’s strategic space while promoting the rebalance to the Asia-Pacific strategy, which is exemplified by a zero-sum mindset. All that has led to a number of contradictions in his foreign policies during the latter period of his presidency.”

Pointing out the obvious, the editorial said: “The world has changed. The basic causes for the traditional political game among big powers either have disappeared or altered. For instance, military expansion, which used to be popular, is difficult to use today and war has become unacceptable to most countries. But in front of new forms of competition and threats, Washington, in the past eight years or longer, has been reluctant to advance with the times, and has been mired in outdated mentality and practices.”

The editorial contrasts the eight years of Obama with their current hopes of the incoming Presidency: “It seems that Trump is about to bring Americans’ attention back to economic development and social construction and make these fields the main emphasis of the work of the new government. By contrast, Obama claimed that the U.S. must be the one to write the rules, but he lacked support from the U.S. domestic economy as the whole world suffered from sluggish trade. All he could do was create turbulence in the global arena by using geopolitical tactics.”

The editorial concludes by saying: “But Obama’s idea has become little more than empty words as he failed to lead the U.S. and West to get rid of their Cold War mentality. Trump’s experience and ideology match well with the new era. However, it is still uncertain how far he would go on the right path. Trump knows that he himself as well as the U.S. are standing at a crossroads. It is hoped that he could bring real surprises.”