New US president ought to reset ties

Donald Trump has been elected as the next president of the United States and will be sworn into office on Jan 20.

One of the first responsibilities he could shoulder is to stabilize and improve relations with China. Let's not mince words, no country is as important a global partner of the US than China, home to the world's second-largest economy, and the only country with which the US can work together to address some of the world's biggest challenges.

Unfortunately, the US spends far too much time and effort bashing China. At the most basic level, such hostile action hinders the building of trust necessary for the two countries to identify solutions to climate change, global public health issues and food insecurity. The list is much longer, but it is fair to say that solving the three problems mentioned above is necessary to ensure a positive shared future for humankind.

There are three immediate steps he should take in order to improve relations with China. Though none of them is especially complicated, all of them require a kind of leadership that has been woefully lacking in recent years. The choice is Mr Trump's, so please make the right one.

Another thing Mr Trump needs to do is to lift the tariffs on Chinese products, many of which have been in place for more than half a decade. Yes, imposing extra tariffs on imports makes the US president appear tough, but as a policy, punitive tariffs are bad for free trade.

The Financial Times, perhaps the best Western newspaper that helps readers understand all things money, recently outlined why tariffs are disastrous. Consider just this statement: "tariffs are higher taxes. Worse, they are inefficient, regressive and nigh on certain to cause retaliation".

Besides, the Tax Foundation said that continued tariffs on Chinese products will reduce the United States' GDP by 0.2 percent and eliminate about 142,000 jobs. In other words, yes, if the next US president wants to continue driving the US toward economic doom, then keep announcing new tariffs. Logic would say that you do not want to do that.

The other item on the agenda should be to clearly, and powerfully, affirm that the US will not undermine the one-China principle. One US president after another has often said that the US acknowledges that Taiwan is an integral part of China, and yet has gone on to arm the island — to the tune of billions of dollars — which is a slap in the face of such a claim.

Related to this, the visits by US politicians to Taiwan suggest there is no legitimacy behind the US administration's endorsement of the one-China policy. Much like the tariffs, such visits allow those politicians to tout their presumed strength. But the visits to the island needlessly antagonize Beijing. Remind all US politicians, regardless of their party affiliation, to think less about selfishly boosting their anti-China bona fides and more about selflessly strengthening US-China relations.

Also, keep the doors to US colleges and universities open for Chinese students and scholars. The "China Initiative", launched in 2018, was a terrible idea. So nothing like it should be implemented in the future. The effort was supposed to uncover Chinese scholars "spying" for China. The fact is, no such spy ring existed.

What was the fallout from this mess?

One leading Chinese American said it best: the initiative "fueled racial animosity, xenophobia, and suspicion toward the (Asian American and Pacific Islander) community and Chinese Americans in particular."

Along the same lines, Mr Trump can forcefully say that the detainment of Chinese students entering the US through its airports will stop. When such activities became news in recent years, there was no way to square these bigoted and discriminatory acts with the US' commitment to welcoming people from all over the world to learn or work in the country.

The relationship between China and the US is akin to a partnership. Working together toward healthy and honorable goals, partners support each other. Of course, there are differences, but compromise and common sense allow for the rough spots to be smoothed over. Beginning early in 2025, Mr Trump will have the choice to either set a new tone to this partnership or continue to push obnoxious rhetoric and questionable policies.

For the good of the world, do the right thing.

The author is the department head and an associate professor of the Communication and Organizational Leadership Department at Robert Morris University in Pennsylvania.

The views don't necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

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