Donald Trump is helping Xi Jinping achieve his grand vision for China
In 2012, Xi Jinping declared his “Chinese Dream”: a foreign- policy vision “realizing the great renewal of the Chinese nation is the greatest dream for the Chinese nation in modern history.” By 2050, China would dominate the world through a framework of international relations that Mr. Xi dubs “the community of common destiny for mankind.” But achieving such a tectonic shift would require the U. S. to cease being the guardian of world democracies and of organizations like NATO, the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, which promote justice and global prosperity.
Well, Mr. Trump’s aggressive abandonment of America’s longtime alliances is doing just that. And regardless of tariffs and whatever becomes of MAGA plans for Panama, Gaza, Greenland or Canada, his administration’s abandonment of nearly all soft- power initiatives – from defunding Radio Free Asia to freezing foreign aid – leaves a vacuum that China’s disinformation media ecosystem and Belt and Road initiative will quickly fill.