Xi-Trump Talk ‘Heralds Important Transition of Sino-US Relations’

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-US 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 US 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, US President Barack Obama is generally believed to have been a moderate president. But he has been profoundly affected by the US elites’ traditional political mindset. His understanding of the world is mainly based on a Cold War mentality. Therefore, he accepted former US 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 polices 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Washington, in the past eight years or longer, has been reluctant to advance with the times, and has been mired in outdated mentality and practices.”