In an offer that baffled most observers, United States President Donald Trump has made a pitch to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping that has seldom been made in modern history. Trump’s suggestion that Beijing buy US weapons was another off-script remark that appeared to stray from official policy, prompting the State Department to clarify that Washington has no such plans. Trump asked Xi “at one point” whether China was interested in procuring US arms, the US envoy to Beijing, David Perdue, said in an interview with Fox News on Sunday.
The president reportedly made the suggestion in discussions with Xi about US arms sales to Taiwan, but it was unclear whether that happened during their joint summit last week or at another time. The comments are all the more striking given Washington’s concerns about Beijing’s support for Iran, as Trump’s ongoing war with Tehran continues. Analysts were quick to dismiss Trump’s proposal as lacking any strategic logic – not least of all due to the arms embargo the US has imposed on China since 1989.
The analysts were in agreement that Trump’s offer was not a serious proposal and possibly even a joke. US law strictly prohibits arms sales to China and Washington officially identifies Beijing as its primary strategic and economic competitor – so there is no practical policy framework for such a transaction, said Beijing-based analyst Einar Tangen, a senior fellow at the Center for International Governance Innovation. The US has always viewed China and its military capabilities with concern, citing its Communist Party’s fusion with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) as a threat.
It has accused Beijing of acquiring and diverting the world’s cutting-edge technologies – including through theft – in order to achieve “military dominance”, a US State Department memo states. Trump’s motivation, he explained, is based on his need to acquire rare earth metals to replenish America’s depleted weapons stockpiles – which have taken a major hit following his ongoing war with Iran. China dominates the world’s rare earth supply chains.
William Yang, a senior analyst on North East Asia at Crisis Group, agreed that Trump views Beijing through a transactional lens – and that his offer held no realistic, strategic thinking. It’s also in line with the president’s conduct throughout his second term – making remarks that contradict existing US policies, which sow confusion and require clarification later, he added. History offers few examples of geopolitical rivals striking arms deals, making Trump’s proposal particularly unusual.
Yet, there are a handful of precedents. During World War II, the US’ Lend-Lease Act to Allied countries also included the Soviet Union – as they were driven by a common enemy, Nazi Germany, explained Tangen. Years later, technological cooperation between the US and China in the late Cold War “was motivated by a shared objective of countering Soviet power and it never involved frontline technology”, he said.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
