German media: China is becoming the "smiling third party"
The "World" newspaper published a commentary pointing out that as the Western camp's rifts deepen, Beijing is becoming the "smiling third party".
"Trump hopes to curb this largest geopolitical rival, but with almost no success, instead strengthening Beijing's position. In April of last year, shortly after taking office, Trump announced additional tariffs of 125% on all Chinese products on top of the existing 20%. Faced with this strong shock, the Chinese leadership took a firm stance: first implementing counter-tariffs, then increasing the docking fees for American ships, and finally imposing restrictions on the export of strategic raw materials. In addition, it also launched an antitrust investigation against a major American chip company. On October 20, Trump announced that he "has great respect for Beijing" and would soon reach a "great agreement" with China. The content of this agreement was: both sides would impose an additional 10% tariff, and China would resume the export of key raw materials to the United States.
On the surface, the United States seems to have defeated the economic power of China: preliminary estimates show that China's exports to the US decreased by 25% last year. At the same time, some technology giants have announced high investments in the US to avoid tariffs. However, in fact, such investments were largely planned in advance. According to different statistics, since Trump took office, up to 80,000 jobs have been lost in the US industrial sector. Experts also point out that a large number of Chinese products still manage to enter the US market through alternative routes, such as being assembled in South America first and then transported to the US.
Scholar Patricia Kim, who studies Chinese policy at the Brookings Institution, commented: 'The US government's ambitious aspirations and generous rhetoric are eye-catching, but the actual results are far from it.'
In contrast, China has handled the situation well. As an alternative to the US market, China has begun to expand its exports to Indonesia, Vietnam, Southern countries, Europe, and Canada. For this reason, for some time now, people have been saying that it is the right choice to face Trump with confidence, as China does. As Bulgarian scholar Krastev wrote in the Financial Times: 'Trump may have shocked the world, but the world is leaning towards China.'
Original: toutiao.com/article/1855036322715657/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.