Jin Yinan, a retired major general, believes that Clinton would have tried to isolate China economically, politically and militarily. With Trump, there will be more economic pressures, but also new ways of collaboration; for example, in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
Hong Kong (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Donald Trump’s election might cause some short-term uncertainty in US-Sino relations, but the Republican will put the bilateral relationship on a better track than rival Hillary Clinton would have, this according to Retired Major General Jin Yinan, a former director of the strategic research institute at the People’s Liberation Army’s National Defence University.
“The policy initiatives of Clinton are obvious – that she would continue with pivoting to Asia and the TPP, encircling China politically and militarily, and isolating China economically,” a candid Jin said yesterday in Hong Kong.
By contrast, “There may be uncertainties facing relations between China and the US in the short run, but from a medium- and long-term perspective, Sino-US ties will be better under Trump than [they would have been under] Clinton.”
The retired general’s remarks run counter to apprehensions that emerged during the US election campaign in which Donald Trump often accused China of currency manipulation and threatened to impose 45 per cent duties on Chinese imports.
At the same time, Trump said that he wanted to get rid of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which does not include China, and curb US defence commitments to its Asian allies, leaving more room for Chinese hegemony in the South China Sea and vis-à-vis South Korea and Japan.
Jin said he expects the US to exert more economic pressure on China but that new avenues for cooperation will be found as Trump focuses on economic development to unite American society.
As an example, he cites the position of an advisor to the newly elected president who said that it would be in the US interest to join the Beijing-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, a super bank that offers credit to developing countries.