Kwei-Bo Huang: As US Ties with Allies Loosen, China Sees an Opportunity To Improve Relations
Following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China in the wake of the Xi Jinping–Donald Trump summit, Kwei-Bo Huang, a professor at the National Chengchi University’s Department of Diplomacy, has told China Review News that the Xi–Putin meeting was suggestive of Russia having a role to play in a G3 world. The Xi–Trump summit had stabilized China-U.S. relations, Huang said, and ties between Beijing and Washington were unlikely to deteriorate significantly during President Trump’s tenure. Furthermore, the recent, gradual fraying of the United States’ ties with its allies had provided China with more opportunities to improve its bilateral relations.
The Russian president traveled to China on May 19 at the conclusion of the recent China-U.S. summit, following successive visits, since May of last year, by leaders from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, South Korea, Australia, Brazil, Spain, Thailand and other countries.
Huang holds a doctorate in government and politics from the University of Maryland. He has served as chairman of Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Research and Design and Planning Committee, vice dean of the National Chengchi University’s College of International Affairs, deputy secretary-general of the Kuomintang (overseeing mainland and international affairs), and as vice president and then trustee of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy. He is currently Professor of Diplomacy at the National Chengchi University, secretary-general of the Association of Foreign Relations, and board director and president of the Foundation for the People.
In an interview with China Review News, Huang stated that, from Russia’s perspective, following the Xi–Trump summit, Putin needed to understand what China and the United States had discussed and what China’s strategic thinking was, while also assessing the key international issues on which China and Russia could continue to coordinate and cooperate. The Xi–Putin meeting, coming on the heels of the Xi–Trump summit, subtly suggested that Russia had a role to play in a G3 world, Huang said, and these points had formed the main purpose of Putin’s visit to China.
Huang added that China had been happy to receive Putin after the Xi–Trump summit, given that relations between China and Russia had been very close in recent years, and that, having hosted Trump, Beijing could hardly afford to snub Putin. Indeed, it had to provide an equivalent level of hospitality — if not more — or else it would be opening itself to criticism from the outside world. China had needed to make a certain political statement, indicating that it would not forget its brothers in Asia, Africa and Latin America just because of its improving relations with the United States.
So how did Huang view the meeting between the Chinese and U.S. leaders?
Huang observed that Trump had needed to release as many positive narratives as possible before the midterm elections, in order to boost the Republican Party’s campaign prospects — but that this didn’t mean that U.S.-China relations would return to their previous state after the midterms. In theory, Trump still retained a certain amount of influence, but Republican views on U.S.-China relations would ultimately depend on the next U.S. presidential nominee. At the very least, however, those relations would not significantly deteriorate during Trump’s tenure, as Trump was focused on how to exchange mutually beneficial deals with China.
According to Huang, Trump was carving out his own place in history, perhaps seeing himself as akin to former U.S. President Richard Nixon on his groundbreaking visit to China in 1972, so that when looking back on the history of thawing U.S.-China relations, people will think of Trump. Even if the Republicans were to lose the midterm elections, they would still stand a fighting chance as long as they held onto the Senate. If they were to lose the Senate as well, however, then that would wreak political carnage in the United States, with ensuing domestic chaos. The effect this would have on foreign policy remains to be seen.
Asked what the recent succession of high-level visits to China suggested about the country’s place in international relations, Huang observed that, as the United States’ alliance system showed increasing signs of strain, China had been presented with more opportunities to improve its bilateral relations with other countries, but it had not yet succeeded in forming its own circle of allies. China’s diplomatic network had historically been relatively loose, Huang said, and neither the number nor the stability of its partnerships had approached those built by the United States since World War II. More recently, however, the United States had itself rendered that alliance network more fragile, creating additional opportunities for China to deepen its engagement with other states. That said, China was likely not in any hurry to develop a multilateral security framework resembling NATO, Huang said.
The Russian president traveled to China on May 19 at the conclusion of the recent China-U.S. summit, following successive visits, since May of last year, by leaders from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, South Korea, Australia, Brazil, Spain, Thailand and other countries.
Huang holds a doctorate in government and politics from the University of Maryland. He has served as chairman of Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Research and Design and Planning Committee, vice dean of the National Chengchi University’s College of International Affairs, deputy secretary-general of the Kuomintang (overseeing mainland and international affairs), and as vice president and then trustee of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy. He is currently Professor of Diplomacy at the National Chengchi University, secretary-general of the Association of Foreign Relations, and board director and president of the Foundation for the People.
In an interview with China Review News, Huang stated that, from Russia’s perspective, following the Xi–Trump summit, Putin needed to understand what China and the United States had discussed and what China’s strategic thinking was, while also assessing the key international issues on which China and Russia could continue to coordinate and cooperate. The Xi–Putin meeting, coming on the heels of the Xi–Trump summit, subtly suggested that Russia had a role to play in a G3 world, Huang said, and these points had formed the main purpose of Putin’s visit to China.
Huang added that China had been happy to receive Putin after the Xi–Trump summit, given that relations between China and Russia had been very close in recent years, and that, having hosted Trump, Beijing could hardly afford to snub Putin. Indeed, it had to provide an equivalent level of hospitality — if not more — or else it would be opening itself to criticism from the outside world. China had needed to make a certain political statement, indicating that it would not forget its brothers in Asia, Africa and Latin America just because of its improving relations with the United States.
So how did Huang view the meeting between the Chinese and U.S. leaders?
Huang observed that Trump had needed to release as many positive narratives as possible before the midterm elections, in order to boost the Republican Party’s campaign prospects — but that this didn’t mean that U.S.-China relations would return to their previous state after the midterms. In theory, Trump still retained a certain amount of influence, but Republican views on U.S.-China relations would ultimately depend on the next U.S. presidential nominee. At the very least, however, those relations would not significantly deteriorate during Trump’s tenure, as Trump was focused on how to exchange mutually beneficial deals with China.
According to Huang, Trump was carving out his own place in history, perhaps seeing himself as akin to former U.S. President Richard Nixon on his groundbreaking visit to China in 1972, so that when looking back on the history of thawing U.S.-China relations, people will think of Trump. Even if the Republicans were to lose the midterm elections, they would still stand a fighting chance as long as they held onto the Senate. If they were to lose the Senate as well, however, then that would wreak political carnage in the United States, with ensuing domestic chaos. The effect this would have on foreign policy remains to be seen.
Asked what the recent succession of high-level visits to China suggested about the country’s place in international relations, Huang observed that, as the United States’ alliance system showed increasing signs of strain, China had been presented with more opportunities to improve its bilateral relations with other countries, but it had not yet succeeded in forming its own circle of allies. China’s diplomatic network had historically been relatively loose, Huang said, and neither the number nor the stability of its partnerships had approached those built by the United States since World War II. More recently, however, the United States had itself rendered that alliance network more fragile, creating additional opportunities for China to deepen its engagement with other states. That said, China was likely not in any hurry to develop a multilateral security framework resembling NATO, Huang said.
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