Maximum pressure has become standard practice in Washington. The recent fierce debate on immigration issues in the US explains why US President Donald Trump is more inclined to maximize pressure on China. It also makes us more aware that the policy China has stuck to in the China-US trade negotiations is correct. For China, the best way to deal with maximum pressure is to resist stress with patience and endurance.
Trump attacked on Monday four non-white congresswomen, telling them to "go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came." As the hashtag #RacistPresident was trending on Twitter on Tuesday, there were also people voicing their support for Trump: "Keep it up! Telling the truth always hurts!" Trump's controversial tweets and Americans' different reactions reflect one fact: The United States is politically divided.
Trump has been triggering political division inside the global superpower since he took office. The once-cherished American ethos of the melting pot is now disappearing, and more and more Americans are dissatisfied with such a situation. Because of the political division, Washington had to resort to more pressure.
Thus, it is difficult for the US to maintain its policy continuity. And the space and flexibility of US diplomatic issues have been greatly reduced, including trade negotiations with China, the EU, Japan and the pressure on Iran.
With the troubled domestic and diplomatic environment, what can Trump do to win the upcoming 2020 election? Playing the China card and threatening maximum pressure on China are obviously among his choices.
Trump did not intend to win votes by fixing the division in US politics. He is intensifying the division to serve his political agenda. Trump is not willing to fix such division, so he just made the situation worse. He has been relying on extreme policies to attract those already polarized voters to mobilize the Anglo-Saxon national consciousness. In order to cater to these voters, such extreme policies have also been fleshed out in diplomatic and foreign trade policies.
Likewise, Trump did not show sincerity in reaching a reciprocal and fair trade agreement with China. He just maximized American people's concerns about Made-in-China products and China's ideology, trying to attract more votes by unilaterally advocating "America First" and taking a tough stand against China.
The Trump administration will eventually fail if it insists on making the trade war a tool of US politics. This may be effective in the short term, but in the long run, it does not work in a divided US.
Chinese people should stay calm. China-US trade talks should not be dominated by some US politicians who advocate maximum pressure on China only to beautify their political achievements.
China will certainly follow its own steps and adhere to its own principles. We will calmly watch the drama that Washington is performing.