The US-China Relationship: Why Words Matter

The U.S.-China relationship under the leadership of Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping has been volatile. Though differences over trade practices remain the most salient form of discord, both Washington and Beijing have steadily ramped up their tough rhetoric to describe the bilateral relationship. While many may want to cast aside rhetoric as “just talk” or “empty words,” the framing of interstate dynamics can have profound effects that trickle down from the top echelons of political power to everyday citizens.

In early July, China-focused scholars, foreign policy, and business leaders penned an open letter to the Trump administration condemning the current U.S. policy toward China and warning against painting Beijing as an enemy. Others have argued that no such “engagement” policy toward China was ever fully in place. Others still have instead noted that Trump’s approach, having abandoned Washington’s previously more cooperative policy, is an overt signal to China that the international status quo that assisted China’s rise is now broken. In other words, some read Trump’s position as communicating that the United States should not and will not quietly acquiesce to China’s emboldened pursuit of status and influence.

Examples of more adversarial rhetoric are manifold. An early indication came in the form of the 2018 U.S. National Security Strategy, which described the current international climate as the scene of “fundamental political contests” between repressive and free societies. In October of the same year, in a speech critical of China, Vice President Mike Pence said, “Beijing is pursuing a comprehensive and coordinated campaign to undermine support for the President, our agenda, and our nation’s most cherished ideals.” More recently, the U.S. State Department’s director of policy planning, Kiron Skinner, made headlines after suggesting that the U.S.-China clash would be a “a fight with a really different civilization and a different ideology.”

However, such escalatory rhetoric is not only a product of the Trump administration; instead, the use of extreme rhetoric and pronounced mistrust or suspicion of China has grown to be a more pervasive facet of American political discourse. Members of the U.S. Congress and Democratic presidential hopefuls alike have opted for more hawkish China positions.

Wisconsin Congressman Mike Gallagher wrote in July that to win in the great power competition, “[The United States] will have to relearn the lost art of ideological warfare.” Other bodies that recommend policy options to the U.S. legislature, including the Congressional Executive Commission on China (CECC) and the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), have furthered a more stringent approach to China. The CECC’s latest annual reports said that “China’s authoritarianism at home directly threatens our freedoms as well as our most deeply held values and national interests”; the USCC found that “In word and deed, the CCP has abandoned any inclination for economic and political liberalization.”

For its part, China has not shied away from using strong language, either. This is especially true when it comes to sensitive political issues such as China’s territorial integrity, namely Taiwan, or China’s domestic policies.

Cui Tiankai, the Chinese ambassador to the United States, and a recent addition to the Twitter-sphere, has already used the platform to decry any attempts to formally sever Taiwan from China, warning such acts would be met with swift and harsh retaliation. That’s no doubt a message for multiple audiences as Taiwan prepares for a 2020 election and as the U.S. moves forward with an arms sale package to the island.