The demonization of China by U.S. President Donald Trump to boost his re-election campaign has become "quite dangerous," and threatens an unwanted catastrophe, according to Robert Zoellick, the former president of the World Bank.
To avert such an outcome, the Trump administration needs to do a better job dealing with China as it is – a wealthy, developing nation – rather than how the administration envisions it – an existential threat to the U.S., Zoellick argued.
"The relationship right now is in free fall," Zoellick said Tuesday at an event sponsored by the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington DC. "It's quite dangerous."
Zoellick warned that the Trump administration needs to be aware that miscalculations can occur, and issues with Taiwan and others can move to a danger zone that includes armed conflict.
This demonization of China by the Trump administration and the Republican Party is plainly visible at the ongoing Republican National Convention. The convention saw the Republican Party officially nominate Trump as its presidential candidate on Monday.
Since the convention began Monday, Trump and other Republican leaders have continued to assail China as the source of the "China virus" responsible for the deaths of 180,000 Americans.
At the convention on Wednesday, secretary of state Mike Pompeo, labeled as Trump's "China attack dog," again assailed China and claimed Trump "pulled back the curtain on the predatory aggression of the Chinese Communist Party." He also said Trump has successfully "held China accountable" for covering up the "China virus."
Zoellick said Trump's transactional and personality-based policies are ineffective, counterproductive and often driven by doing the opposite of what president Barack Obama did.
Instead of "throwing global bombs" and condemning its allies and looking for simplistic solutions, as Trump and his administration have done, the U.S. should work with allies and lead by example, cautioned Zoellick.
Zoellick seems to argue that war is the last thing China wants and its actions of late seem to support this observation. He said China has generally adhered better to global trade rules than other developing nations. China's intellectual property courts are increasingly siding with foreign companies.
China, however, continues to defy some changes intended to curb its unacceptable behavior. Zoellick said China remains deficient in vaguely defined areas such as intellectual property rights and forced technology transfers.
"I hope people don't take for granted some of the things that have been accomplished with China," he said.
"There can be common ground" with China, said Zoellick. "For those who don't believe so, I guess I'd ask in a very pragmatic way, what do you think confrontation will produce?"
A more effective approach to getting China to change its unwanted behavior would be for the U.S. to join with other allies and local interest groups in pushing China for tougher enforcement of globally accepted rules of conduct, he said.
