Relations between the United States and China have reached “a pivot point”, Rex Tillerson has warned, calling for efforts to avoid “open conflict” between the world’s two largest economies. At a rare state department briefing held amid reports that Donald Trump was preparing to order a wide-ranging investigation into Chinese trade practices, the US secretary of state told reporters that ties were at a crossroads following “a long period of no conflict” that had lasted more than four decades.
Experts believe Trump had hoped to strike “grand bargain” with Xi Jinping by which he would have given the Chinese president a pass on issues such as trade or its controversial South China Sea island-building campaign in exchange for cooperation on North Korea. But after initially positive signs, such as a two-day summit at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, the relationship appears to be souring.
