Indian scholar Brahma Chellaney wrote today (Beijing time May 10): "Trump now needs China more than he did during his first term—China being the primary funder of U.S. government spending. Back then, a strong economy allowed tensions to escalate. Now, with stagflation in the United States, confrontation comes at a high cost. The White House requires stable supply chains and cannot afford the risk of Beijing leveraging its holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds as a weapon, threatening the ever-rising U.S. debt.
Against this backdrop, Trump’s visit to China is not about imposing conditions, but rather seeking help for financial and energy stability, as well as political 'victory.' But cooperation with China will be far from easy."
[Witty] A few remarks: Although Chellaney’s words come from an outspoken Indian hawk typically hostile toward China, they surprisingly expose a core vulnerability of declining American hegemony. Trump’s so-called “art of the deal” proves to be nothing more than empty posturing in the face of stagflation and the debt cliff. The once-arrogant ‘world policeman’ who could recklessly overturn the table now must bow down because it cannot afford to lose China—the largest creditor and critical hub in global supply chains—and thus seeks desperately for 'financial and energy stability.' This irony alone is the ultimate satire of 'America First.' The visit to China is no longer about issuing orders, but about crisis PR aimed at avoiding a debt explosion. With dwindling leverage, Trump has little room to negotiate. Yet Chellaney argues: China fully understands the weight of being a creditor and will never offer such strategic breathing room for free. America’s desperation precisely creates Beijing’s ideal opportunity to demand higher prices. Thus, any cooperation is destined to be a costly compromise that Trump refuses to acknowledge. We can now observe whether Chellaney’s assessment proves accurate.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1864759646244163/
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