President Donald Trump has long tried to portray himself as something of a strongman on China, though his tough talk and trade wars are often undercut by his remarkably accommodating nature toward Xi Jinping.
And that softer approach was on full display during Trump’s Beijing visit this week.
Trump’s trip — and his comments at the tail end of it — include some notable rhetorical and actual concessions to the Chinese government. He also explicitly walked back previous campaign promises to get tough on China.
Taiwan was perhaps the most prominent issue. It’s a tricky topic for any president, given the very nuanced US policies toward its independence (the “one China” policy) and defending it from China (“strategic ambiguity”).
And for much of the trip, Trump avoided saying anything substantive about it. Remarkably, Fox News’ Sean Hannity didn’t even broach the subject in his interview with Trump that aired Thursday night.
