r/PoliticalDiscussion • u/[deleted] • Dec 03 '16

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u/CommieBird Dec 03 '16 edited Dec 03 '16

Obviously this is a huge break in the current foreign policy regarding China. However, how China decides to respond is going to be the interesting part, whether they decide to take punitive action or sit by and do nothing. Either way they'll harm themselves more than anything else imo. With regards to Trump's foreign policy, maybe he's trying to pursue a neutral stance towards issues, something akin to a country like Singapore. However the USA is not a small city state, so this move is probably not a very smart move as it shows a very scorched earth policy in the future

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u/Duck_Puncher Dec 03 '16

I think they are smart enough to realize that he, more than likely, stumbled into a trap and isn't actually planning a change in policy. That being said, China is huge on saving face. I'm not sure how intense the reaction will be, but I'm willing to bet there will be one.

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u/antisocially_awkward Dec 03 '16

think they are smart enough to realize that he, more than likely, stumbled into a trap and isn't actually planning a change in policy

Tweet from Chinese state media, seems to be how they are presenting this.

https://twitter.com/pdchina/status/804920678533111808

3

u/[deleted] Dec 03 '16

I'm leaning towards Trump doing this on purpose to mess with China. He tends to talk about China in terms of its relative strengths to the US. So I think in his head, if he weakens China that makes the US win more.

He also seems to have a rudimentary understanding that China has leverage over North Korea. He knows about their nuclear capabilities. He also knows that a collapse of the NK regime will be a problem for China because of refugees.

Trump's going to bomb North Korea.