Tag: June Teufel Dreyer

A major speech by U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Oct. 4 was the clearest, highest-level sign that U.S. strategy was turning from engagement to confrontation. Pence accused China of interfering in the midterm elections to undermine President Donald Trump's tough trade policies against Beijing, warned other countries to be wary of Beijing's "debt diplomacy" and denounced China's actions in the South China Sea. Both sides are trading increasingly sharp accusations over human rights and global hegemony, exposing an ideological divide that pits the two on a path of confrontation with no clear resolution in sight. Xi's aggressive foreign policy and authoritarian ways have altered views of China across the board. "What has happened is a sea change in U.S. perceptions of China," said June Teufel Dreyer, an expert on Chinese politics who teaches political science at the University of Miami. Beijing's outrage at Pompeo, meanwhile, was prompted by his recent warnings to Latin American countries about the dangers of accepting Chinese infrastructure loans that are a key aspect of Xi's signature foreign policy project. "It may not be a clash of civilizations, but it is a long-festering conflict of national, political and economic interest and systems that has reached a point of rupture," Kovrig said. While Chinese companies — often backed by easy credit from state banks — have been snapping up foreign assets, Beijing restricts such foreign purchases in key sectors such as energy, transport and telecommunications. "This includes the international trading system, which is dominated by the U.S." Still, attempts to contain China along the lines laid out during the Cold War would be "difficult, if not impossible," given the broad range of contacts across political, economic and personal spheres, Cheng said. Michael Mazza, a foreign policy expert at the conservative American Enterprise Institute think tank in Washington, said "competition will remain the norm" between the two countries unless China is willing to make significant changes in its domestic, economic and foreign policies.