A China-focused researcher, I lived in Beijing before the pandemic, and I returned after over six years as part of a delegation of China hands. While the city had not changed all that much, save for several new subway lines, I was struck by the whiff of triumphalism that permeated the Chinese policy community. Whereas the Biden administration’s approach to China was marked by “zero-sum ideological and technological competition,” Trump’s more transactional nature, some academics and think tankers argued, had produced a reset in relations that would benefit both sides.
tirsdag 21. juli 2026
Opinion: Trump Is Good for China. But Is He Good for America?
After a rocky period at the outset of President Trump’s second term, the U.S.-China relationship has found its groove. So said several Chinese government officials and academics with whom I formally met during a recent trip to Beijing.
A China-focused researcher, I lived in Beijing before the pandemic, and I returned after over six years as part of a delegation of China hands. While the city had not changed all that much, save for several new subway lines, I was struck by the whiff of triumphalism that permeated the Chinese policy community. Whereas the Biden administration’s approach to China was marked by “zero-sum ideological and technological competition,” Trump’s more transactional nature, some academics and think tankers argued, had produced a reset in relations that would benefit both sides.
A China-focused researcher, I lived in Beijing before the pandemic, and I returned after over six years as part of a delegation of China hands. While the city had not changed all that much, save for several new subway lines, I was struck by the whiff of triumphalism that permeated the Chinese policy community. Whereas the Biden administration’s approach to China was marked by “zero-sum ideological and technological competition,” Trump’s more transactional nature, some academics and think tankers argued, had produced a reset in relations that would benefit both sides.