ZCZC
BFF-08
US-CHINA-CANADA-DIPLOMACY
China arrest another sign of Trump’s disjointed diplomacy
WASHINGTON, Dec 7, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – When Donald Trump flew back from a
summit with China in Buenos Aires, he hailed it as “amazing” and raised hopes
of a breakthrough on ending a trade war.
That same day, Canada was arresting a top Chinese executive on a US
request, enraging Beijing and at the very least souring the mood as the
world’s two largest economies open trade negotiations.
The detention of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou marks the
latest case of incongruous diplomacy for this most untraditional of US
presidents, who has vowed dramatic detentes only to find out that his own
administration is pressing ahead with moves that will anger the same nations.
On Russia, Trump took office speaking glowingly of President Vladimir Putin
and promising to patch up relations.
But Russia — which, according to US intelligence, intervened to sway the
2016 election — has voiced frustration as the United States keeps imposing
sanctions over actions including Moscow’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine
and the attempted poisoning of a Russian double agent in Britain.
Trump, who early in his term boasted of befriending Chinese President Xi
Jinping, in recent months piled tariffs on Beijing as he pressed the rising
Asian power on trade practices including its alleged theft of US technology.
At the dinner summit in Buenos Aires, where Trump and Xi were taking part
in a Group of 20 meeting, the United States agreed to hold off on raising
tariffs on another $200 billion worth of Chinese goods for 90 days as the two
sides negotiate.
Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat who has often criticized Trump, said he
shared concerns about alleged espionage by Chinese companies but called the
administration’s approach disjointed.
“This is a textbook case of how one part of this administration doesn’t
seem to be on the same wave-length — or even not connect — with each
other,” Wyden told AFP.
“Because there is no question now that the gap seems to be widening between
the president’s national security advisors and the president,” he said.
– Did Trump know? –
National security advisor John Bolton declined to say whether Trump was
aware of the arrest plans when he and his top aides sat down with Xi in
Argentina.
But Bolton told National Public Radio that he himself was aware through the
Justice Department of the operation in Vancouver, where Meng — the daughter
of Huawei’s founder Ren Zhengfei, a former engineer in China’s military —
was changing planes.
US officials have stayed tight-lipped on the arrest, mindful that
statements could endanger prosecution. But Senator Ben Sasse said Meng was
arrested over alleged Huawei activities in Iran, which the Trump
administration has hit with sweeping sanctions.
There was at least one report that the arrest may not just be spectacularly
bad timing.
CNN, quoting an unnamed source, said the Trump administration could see
Meng’s arrest as leverage in the negotiations, but White House trade advisor
Peter Navarro told the channel that “the two issues are totally separate.”
And US authorities would still need to present a legal case for any charges
against Meng. She faces an extradition hearing Friday in Canada.
And the arrest of such a prominent executive has quickly touched a
patriotic nerve in China, where commentators say the United States is trying
to keep down Huawei, which has made rapid inroads in the developing world
with smartphones that are significantly more affordable than Apple iPhones.
– ‘Gloves fully off’ –
Eurasia Group analysts in a note to investors expected China to voice anger
but still to send a trade delegation to Washington to kick off talks.
But they said that US actions, including future steps under consideration
such as declaring China in violation of an accord against cyber theft, cast
doubt on whether negotiations would succeed.
The arrest “suggests that the gloves are now fully off in this arena, and
US law enforcement officials have a green light from senior administration
officials to pursue individuals the US may not have gone after in a more
benign bilateral political climate,” they wrote.
Shaun Rein, managing director of the Shanghai-based strategic market
intelligence firm CMR, warned in an essay that US tech executives should
worry about tit-for-tat arrests if visiting China.
If the United States is basing its action over Huawei’s involvement in
Iran, China could for example make arrests citing operations in Taiwan, the
self-governing island which Beijing considers a province awaiting
reunification, Rein said.
“If you think anything was solved last week at the G20 meeting between
Trump and Xi, I have some swampland to sell you.”
BSS/AFP/MRI/0826 hrs