Open questions | ‘Structural’ problem: top China scholar says US tensions will be ‘with us for a long time’
- Political scientist Li Cheng talks geopolitics, Trump, Taiwan and Hong Kong in wide-ranging interview
- He also looks at President Xi Jinping’s ‘decisive’ move to fire the foreign and defence ministers last year
Professor, you spent decades in the US watching its ties with China develop and I want to start by asking about US-China relations, a very consequential relationship that has a huge impact on the world. What is your assessment of US-China relations at this point, particularly after the two leaders met last year?
These two documents argued that the previous engagement policy with China failed and did not yield the results as the US had planned or expected.
The second document specifically mentioned that the number one threat to the US since 9/11 was terrorist groups; number two was so-called rogue states like North Korea, Iran and Iraq.
The third, called revisionist countries, only referred to two – China and Russia.
But the report claims that after 20 years, terrorist attacks on the US mainland have been significantly controlled and prevented. The risk from rogue states, with the US missile defence system, will also not be that imminent.
