Is the Trump Administration Pushing for a Cold War with China?

In aWashington Post op-ed last week,  Josh Rogin argued this:Despite what you may have read, the United States ’ strategy toward China does not entail launching another Cold War, imposing a zero-sum game or even winning a “clash of civilizations.” In fact, the entire objective of the Trump administration’s Asia approach is to avoid outright conflict with China. But to do that, Beijing must be deterre d from continuing on its aggressive path.The idea that the White House ’s new approach to confront China’s economic aggression and military expansion represents a “Cold War mentality” is popular with pundits both in Washington and in Beijing. But that accusation misunderstands what the United States is trying to do with China. …Perhaps I am one of the pundits he had in mind, given thatI wrote the following earlier this year:Talking Ourselves into a Cold War with ChinaSometimes the latest turns of phrase in policy circles are just fleeting headlines, soon to be forgotten. As a presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton called for “smart and fair trade. ” But she disappeared from the political scene before we figured out what that meant.However, other times they lead us down the road towards real changes in policy. Soon after the 9/11 attacks, Bush administration officials were accusing Saddam Hussein of being involved. At the time, the invasion of Iraq was hardly inevitable, and may not have seemed likely, but armed with the phrase “weapons of mass destr...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs