Over the course of yesterday and today, Chinese President Xi Jinping has been staying at US President Donald Trump’s Florida resort to discuss everything from trade to North Korea. However, the recent cataclysmic chemical attack on a town in Syria threatens to overshadow their discussions, as Trump has ordered 60 missiles to be launched at Syria, a move Xi will surely disapprove of (although UN resolution-opposing China hasn’t yet publicly responded to the attack).
Without a response from China, we have to look to foreign policy experts
If China aren’t going to respond to the Syria attack, we have no choice but to look to experts in Chinese foreign policy to predict their thoughts on it for us.
Bonnie Glaser is an expert on such a topic, and she says that the fact that Trump ordered the strike while Xi was in the United States visiting him is “quite telling.”
The way Glaser sees it, “none of this is planned.” However, it is her opinion that this missile strike is typical Trump behaviour, and it “sends a signal to Xi Jinping,” and by extension, all of China, that “this is a President that means business.” She believes this strike is a prime example of how Trump is going to act as President: “very decisively.” Trump isn’t going to “sit around and spend an enormous amount of time weighing through things.” She believes that because of this, China will “view him with respect.”
