How China views the US presidential electionThe most likely scenario is a period of tension in which China’s leadership and a new administration in Washington weigh each other’s strengths and weaknessesBy Ian Bremmer / NEW YORKHow will the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) react to the highly unpredictable election in the US in November? Their only disagreement, Chinese leaders believe, is about which economic and political weapons to use to contain China, and how and when to use them. However, this is not to suggest that China views the two parties as effectively the same. Alternatively, they could appeal to various US allies that remain dependent on good economic relations with China. The bigger risk, then, is that China’s leaders conclude that the limited engagement of the past year has not produced good results, and that the next hostile US president would always be just one election away.
