Is President Trump the paper tiger of Emperor Xi?

«XI JINPING, CHINA’S supreme leader, is not frightened of President Donald Trump. Increasingly, Chinese elites see Mr Trump as “very soft” on their country, say Beijing insiders.

China was “a bit panicky” during Mr Trump’s first term, concedes an analyst in Beijing. The first Trump administration expanded a trade war into an ideological contest, with officials making stern critiques of China’s political and economic systems. China is not panicking any more, insists the analyst. When Trumpian bullying resumed this year, China’s leaders pushed back hard, refusing to buy American soyabeans and restricting exports of rare-earth minerals and permanent magnets that are vital to carmakers and other industries. Mr Trump “blinked first”, the analyst says.

At a meeting with Mr Xi in South Korea on October 30th Mr Trump offered concessions, including a one-year pause of a rule extending American export controls to the subsidiaries of blacklisted Chinese companies. China agreed to buy soyabeans and made vaguer promises to block smuggled shipments of chemicals used to make fentanyl, and to facilitate exports of rare earths.

Pundits in Beijing claim other wins. Since returning to power ten months ago, Mr Trump has shown no ideological ill-will towards the Communist Party, even when imposing dizzying tariffs on China. In the telling of Chinese scholars, Mr Trump treats China as an “indispensable” nation. He urges China to buy American goods and has welcomed its companies to invest in America. As an added bonus, in his second term Mr Trump has so tightened his grip over the federal government and the Republican Party that conservatives dare not challenge him for engaging with China. 

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Mr Trump does seem ready to treat Mr Xi as a peer. After their encounter in South Korea, Mr Trump bragged on social media about a “G2 meeting” that would lead to “everlasting peace and success”. China has learned how to intimidate America’s president: hence the current, uneasy truce in their trade war. Wooing Mr Trump is a trickier task. China hawks in Washington have much to fear, should Mr Xi succeed.»

Beijing insiders’ plan to play Donald Trump

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«"Paper tiger" is a calque of the Chinese phrase zhǐlǎohǔ (simplified Chinese: 纸老虎; traditional Chinese: 紙老虎). The term refers to something or someone that claims or appears to be powerful or threatening but is actually ineffectual and unable to withstand challenge.

The expression became well known internationally as a slogan used by Mao Zedong, former chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and paramount leader of China, against his political opponents, particularly the United States. It has since been used in various capacities and variations to describe many other opponents and entities.» (Wikipedia)