Opinion | How the Trump administration has misunderstood the lessons of Nixon, Kissinger and the past 50 years of US-China diplomacy
- Decades of China engagement failed, according to Pompeo, because China did not liberalise as US leaders had anticipated
- However, Nixon’s opening to China in 1972 had nothing to do with spreading democracy or free enterprise but was entirely about gaining the upper hand over the Soviets in the Cold War
“Making China pay” has become a Republican rally cry for not only the presidential race, but the congressional races as well. Trump and his administration have gone as far as to recast the last 50 years of Sino-American relations as misguided.
China has been used as a political issue before – from the “who lost China” debate in the 1950s to Bill Clinton’s criticism of George H.W. Bush’s response to Tiananmen in the 1992 election. But, this time, Trump and his officials are going further.
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“We imagined engagement with China would produce a future with bright promise of comity and cooperation,” he said, but this did not come to fruition. The engagement strategy failed, according to Pompeo, because China did not liberalise as US presidents had anticipated.