After detente with North Korea, Trump increasingly takes aim at a new foe — China
2018-08-19 08:33:18 source：The Washington Post
August 18, 2018
BRIDGEWATER, N.J. — After 18 months of treating North Korea as the top national security threat, President Trump has increasingly turned his attention to China, taking a more confrontational approach that experts said shows a risky shift in U.S. policy.
From an escalating trade war to a new defense budget that counters Chinese maritime expansion, the Trump administration has taken aim at the East Asian power in a contest of wills that has led to a growing consensus in Beijing that the United States is seeking to contain China’s rise.
Trump’s rhetoric has grown sharper since last year, when he attempted to strike a rapport with his “good friend” President Xi Jinping. Last week, Trump cited the Chinese military as the rationale for creating a new “Space Force” at the Pentagon, and in a tweet on Saturday he injected China into the specter of foreign influence of U.S. elections.
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