Chinese state media with optimistic tone after Biden win. Insight from Gordon Chang, senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute.
President Trump steered U.S. diplomacy on a new course during his time in office, responding aggressively to conflicts with China over trade, technology and security.
"The Cost: Trump, China and American Revival" available now on Fox Nation explores the shift in U.S.- Chinese relations under the 45th president, caused by a tariff war over Beijing’s technology ambitions and trade surplus, accusations of spying and tension over human rights, and the coronavirus pandemic.
CHINA CONGRATULATES BIDEN, BUT FEW US POLICY CHANGES SEEN
Trump began to implement major changes to U.S. foreign policy immediately after his 2017 inauguration, but it wasn't until a dinner with Chinese President Xi Jinping in April of that year that he laid down the law for future negotiations with the Communist leader.
As the story goes, Xi and Trump were enjoying what the American president described as the "most delicious piece of chocolate cake you've ever seen," during a diplomatic dinner at his Mar-a-Lago club when Trump ordered a missile strike on a Syrian airbase in response to a chemical weapons attack by the country's president, Bashar al-Assad, that killed at least 85 of his citizens.
"We had finished dinner, we're now having dessert and we had the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake that you'd ever seen," Trump told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo at the time. " And President Xi was enjoying it, and I was given the message from the general that the ships are locked and loaded, and I said, 'Mr. President, let me explain something to you' — this is during dessert," Trump emphasized.
The launch of 59 sea-based Tomahawk cruise missiles sent a strong message not only to Syria but to several other states with a stake in the outcome of that country’s destructive civil war — China among them.
Sitting across from the leader of the People's Republic, Trump explained that the U.S. military "just launched 59 missiles heading toward Syria, and I want you to know that.
STATE DEPARTMENT WARNS INCOMING BIDEN ADMINISTRATION OF CHINA'S THREAT TO US
"He paused for ten seconds, and then he asked the interpreter to please say it again," Trump recalled, "and he said to me, 'Anybody that uses gases to do that to young children and babies, it's OK.' "He was OK with it," Trump explained in the Fox Nation special, "but I think he understood the message."
The conversation was a turning point for the leaders of the world's top two economies, Bartiromo said, remarking that "even if it went unmentioned over chocolate cake in Florida, his [Trump's] message was clear."
Trump's full interview and more exclusive behind the scenes footage from "The Cost: Trump, China and American Revival" is available on Fox Nation as part of the 'Trump Nation' collection showcasing the life and legacy of the 45th U.S. president.
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