Former U.S. President Trump recently stated that if current Vice President Kamala Harris were to be elected President of the United States, Chinese leader Xi Jinping would “bully her like a child.” This comes after Harris accused the Trump administration of being too soft on China during their only televised debate on September 10. The debate has drawn worldwide attention to which candidate is tougher on China and better equipped to handle the century’s threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party.
In an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on the morning of October 24, Trump was asked about how Xi Jinping would treat Harris if she were to win. Trump replied, “He would treat her like a little baby. He would quickly take away all her candies, and she wouldn’t even know what happened. It’s like a chess master playing with a beginner.”
Efforts to obtain a response from Harris’s campaign team on Trump’s comments have been unsuccessful so far.
Throughout the election process, Harris has consistently supported President Joe Biden’s foreign policy. However, there have been some differences in their stance on U.S.-China relations. An article in The Economist on October 23 suggests that Harris is reluctant to see Communist China as a real or potential enemy of the United States. If elected President, she hopes to maintain dialogue with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and is not interested in engaging in a trade war with China.
A senior advisor to Harris’s team told The Economist, “Conflict is not imminent. Our job is to make sure it doesn’t become imminent.”
These differences in approach are particularly evident in their handling of the Taiwan issue. While Biden has publicly stated multiple times that the U.S. would defend Taiwan militarily against any attempts from Beijing to invade, Harris avoided making the same commitment during an interview with CBS on October 7, saying, “I will not make assumptions.”
Harris seems to be reverting to the so-called “strategic ambiguity” policy preceding changes in U.S.-China policy. However, the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 does promise to provide Taiwan with weapons to defend itself and to resist any form of coercion, despite not being a mutual defense treaty.
As tensions escalate in the Taiwan Strait, every word spoken by U.S. leaders will be carefully interpreted by the Chinese side. Harris’s ambiguous position may be an attempt to assure Xi Jinping that the U.S. is not seeking conflict. However, the danger of such ambiguity is that it may be perceived by Xi as a sign of weakening resolve, potentially emboldening him.
During the CBS interview, Harris demonstrated another critical difference in foreign policy compared to Biden. When asked which country poses the greatest threat to the U.S., she named Iran, stating that Iran has “American blood on their hands.” This contrasts with the majority of Washington politicians who readily identify Communist China as the primary adversary. President Biden’s national security strategy singles out China as “the only competitor with a plan to reshape the international order and possessing an ever-increasing array of economic, diplomatic, military, and technological strengths to achieve that goal.”
In the same CBS interview, when Harris was asked about Xi Jinping and the Taiwan issue, her response was somewhat vague but carried a tone of deterrence.
On October 17, Paul Gigot, editorial page editor of The Wall Street Journal, asked Trump how he would persuade Xi Jinping to end the blockade against Taiwan. Trump replied, “I would say to him, ‘If you go into Taiwan, I’m sorry, we’re going to have to tax you—I’m talking about tariffs—150 to 200 percent.” Trump even suggested the possibility of halting all trade with China.
Gigot further inquired, “Would you use force against (Beijing’s actions on) Taiwan?”
“I don’t need to because he respects me, he knows how crazy I am,” Trump replied.
Trump recounted an incident to Gigot in 2017 at Mar-a-Lago, where he hosted Xi Jinping and ordered a military strike on Syria during a dinner. Trump informed Xi about the missile attack in Syria, with Chinese troops reportedly present in the region. He recalled telling Xi, “We just launched 58 missiles at a Syrian airport that had many new airplanes. Your people are not in danger, but they are on the way.”
“I repeated it, and he got it. He just sat back, a good poker player. He looked somewhat mad at first, right? I repeated it. He said, ‘Oh, okay.’ Then we got back to business. He was cool, but he’s a tough guy,” Trump reminisced about Xi’s reaction at that time.
Trump believed that the incident at Mar-a-Lago allowed him and Xi to understand each other better, and with the warning from the Syria incident, Xi would respect him and refrain from reckless actions against Taiwan.
A recent poll by a U.S. think tank shows that American views on Communist China have reached a historical low, with most Americans believing the U.S. should actively work to limit China’s power expansion. The poll conducted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and Ipsos revealed that the ongoing presidential election has significantly impacted American perceptions of China. While most Americans view China as a major competitor, they are also keenly aware of the potential costs of conflict between the two nuclear powers, with avoiding military conflict with Beijing being a top priority in U.S.-China relations.
According to the latest poll from the Council, Americans’ feelings towards China hit a historical low with a rating of 26 out of 100 on the “feeling thermometer,” dropping from 32 in 2022 and marking the lowest since pre-diplomatic relations in 1978. A majority of Americans (55%) believe the U.S. should actively work to curb China’s power, while a minority (40%) think the U.S. should engage in friendly cooperation and contact with Beijing.
The majority of Americans (56%) believe that U.S.-China trade weakens national security, while a minority (39%) see it as enhancing national security. Across party lines, most Americans (74%) consider China as a primary competitor rather than a partner, aligning with their overall negative view of China.
The poll conducted in June and July has been released as the U.S. presidential election enters its final stages. The issue of China remains a core theme in bilateral foreign policy. Vice President Harris and former President Trump frequently brought up China in their September debate, debating who is tougher on Beijing.
An AP-NORC survey earlier in the year found that more Americans believe U.S. government’s primary focus should be on foreign policy in 2024.
Associate Professor Chen Shimin of the Department of Political Science at National Taiwan University said in an interview that under Xi Jinping’s leadership, the Chinese Communist Party poses an increasing threat to Western democratic countries, leading them to view China as an enemy. Most U.S. officials, regardless of party affiliation, essentially hope that China can move towards democracy and freedom. The challenge with the authoritarian regime of the Chinese Communist Party is either it changes itself or is overthrown, transitioning China into a democratic and free nation. The two parties may have different views on whether to promote China’s democratization.
Chen suggests that both U.S. parties are relatively tough on China. However, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo under the Trump administration once stated that the CCP does not represent China, a view inconsistent with the current Biden administration. This implies that the Trump administration during Pompeo’s tenure as Secretary of State may have aimed for peaceful transformation in China, aiming to overthrow the authoritarian regime and establish a democratic government in China.
Political commentator Li Linyi believes that based on voter polls, a strong stance against China aligns with the expectations of most voters. Presently, Trump’s position on China is relatively tougher than Harris’s. In other words, the stance on taking a tough stance against China is not only an important issue in the current U.S. election but also directly impacts the votes for Trump and Harris.