Trump, in China, opts against confrontation

Associated Press

BEIJING

President Donald Trump pulled his punches.

On the home turf of the rising superpower he once declared was “raping” the United States on trade, Trump on Thursday abandoned his often-pugnacious posture.

He opted instead for public flattery and deference and chose to denounce past U.S. presidents for the economic imbalance. And while he urged China to do more to pressure North Korea to abandon its burgeoning nuclear-weapons program, the vibe was more conciliatory than confrontational.

Trump, who made China’s growing economic might a bogeymen during his presidential campaign, appeared set to deliver a face-to-face scolding of President Xi Jinping following an announcement of new business deals between U.S. and Chinese companies.

Standing just a few feet away from the Chinese president, Trump declared that the two nations “must immediately address the unfair trade practices” that drive the trade deficit, along with barriers to market access, forced technology transfers and intellectual-property theft.

“But I don’t blame China,” Trump said to audible gasps from some of the business leaders and journalists from both countries in The Great Hall of the People.

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, criticized Trump, saying: “Through its willful disregard for international trade laws, intellectual-property theft, lax labor laws, dumping of cheap Chinese commodities into U.S. markets and a long history of improperly manipulating its currency, the Chinese government has consistently put a target on the backs of every working-class American and contributed to the hollowing out of the American middle class.

“The fact that President Trump would put the blame on the United States instead of China’s outrageous behavior is a slap in the face to millions of hardworking Americans worried about whether their job will be here tomorrow. While President Trump acts tough on China in front of friendly crowds at campaign rallies, this week we saw how he acts when he is face to face with Chinese leaders.”

Either way, it was a far cry from Trump’s inflammatory campaign rhetoric on China. Night after night at rallies across the country, he portrayed himself as a hard-nosed negotiator who would hold other countries accountable for disadvantaging American workers.

“We can’t continue to allow China to rape our country and that’s what they’re doing,” he said in Indiana in May 2016. “It’s the greatest theft in the history of the world.”

While Trump made clear that he wanted a more equitable trade relationship, he made no mention of previous campaign threats to label China a currency manipulator, impose double-digit tariffs or authorize draconian trade measures.

Trump took a similarly softer tack on rising tensions with North Korea, whose nuclear capability he has labeled “a threat to civilization.”