U.S. President Donald Trump has changed his tune again, showing no sign of the impatience he previously displayed regarding revoking Chinese students' visas. On the contrary, he welcomed Chinese students to study in the U.S. with a beaming smile and even encouraged them to stay and work in the country. Why is Trump's attitude shifting so obviously? What is his purpose?

Trump welcomes more Chinese students to study in the U.S.

Trump reiterated the special treatment provided to Chinese students in the U.S., emphasizing that he would offer them convenience, allowing them to stay and develop after graduation and approving their employment at American companies. Just half a month ago, he not only pressed the button for a $3 billion funding allocation to Harvard University but also threatened to revoke Chinese students' visas, claiming to expel them from the U.S. Now, his friendly attitude toward Chinese students once again surprises people with his quick change of face.

Trump's sudden friendliness toward Chinese students indeed makes people feel uncomfortable, as he has made it clear since taking office that he has an unfriendly attitude toward China. What does this fawning demeanor mean? In fact, Trump has explained why he is doing this. According to Trump's statement, these Chinese students are talents. After receiving advanced systematic education in the U.S., they must remain in the U.S. to work; otherwise, they might return to China to start businesses. In other words, these Chinese students will use the knowledge they learned in the U.S. to contribute to China, thereby accelerating the rapid development of China's technology. This is what Trump most wants to avoid, so he is determined to keep these Chinese students shining in American companies, even if they achieve success, it will be contributing to America's development. It can't be denied that Trump has played his cards well, now directly targeting the Chinese people.

Perhaps in the eyes of outsiders, Trump's sudden friendliness toward China is based on commitments made to China. Because just recently, the leaders of China and the U.S. held a telephone conversation, where Trump promised during the call, "The U.S. welcomes Chinese students to study here." Now, the U.S. has once again emphasized the special treatment given to Chinese students, giving the impression that Trump is keeping his word.

But in reality, Trump is simply seeing profit. As he said, he worries about Chinese students returning to start businesses in China and fears the loss of talent cultivated by the U.S. Ultimately, it is still about worrying that China is developing too quickly in the field of science and technology. Moreover, these Chinese students in the U.S., to some extent, are China's "hostages." If the U.S. wants to pressure China, they may use these students as leverage to force China to make concessions, thus achieving the U.S.'s goals faster.

Apparently, to restrict China's development in the field of science and technology, the U.S. government has started using every possible means. Besides the aforementioned efforts to retain talent, the U.S. is restricting China's chip trade worldwide. Even though there was some compromise after negotiations in London, the U.S. has not loosened its stance on high-end chips. As Huang Renxun, CEO of NVIDIA, said, if chips are not sold to China, it will indirectly help China develop its own chips. Once China cannot buy chips, they will research their own, and by the time they succeed, it will be too late.

The U.S. wants to control all technology including chips in its own hands.

Huang Renxun may have been trying to persuade Trump regarding chip restrictions, but he provided Trump with a good idea to target China. Trump believes that he must tackle China on two fronts to fundamentally curb China's development in the field of science and technology. Thus, the current situation is that the U.S. neither allows any other countries to cooperate with China in high-end chip trade nor tries to keep as many Chinese students as possible in the U.S., leaving China in a position where it lacks both resources and talent.

In the end, Trump's current friendly attitude toward Chinese students is merely a temporary measure. After the U.S.-China negotiation in London, the U.S. gained access to China's rare earth supply, which, although temporary, is closely related to the U.S.'s previous chip control over China. Trump's move may be accumulating more chips for the U.S., which will play a role after the six-month rare earth export license expires.

On one hand, Trump is planning for six months later and maintaining the current friendly relationship between China and the U.S., and on the other hand, he is buying more time for the U.S. to layout. After all, the U.S. wants to hold both talent and resources in its own hands, forcing China to choose to jointly develop rare earths with the U.S., thereby developing its own technology.

Clearly, Trump has his own plan, plotting how to suppress China's technological development. Once the U.S. completely holds the lifeline of technology in its own hands or when this targeted approach against China fails, Trump's attitude toward Chinese students will be completely different. In essence, Chinese students have become a "pawn" in Trump's eyes, facing the risk of being abandoned at any moment.

China and the U.S. are still vying quietly.

Regarding Trump's small calculations, China is also prepared. Huawei has surely broken through bottlenecks and developed more high-end chips in the field of technology, making all of America's "trump cards" ineffective.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7515363937660060212/

Disclaimer: The article only represents the author's personal views. Please express your attitude by clicking the "Agree/Disagree" buttons below.