So his administration labeled China a “strategic competitor” and set to work on containing the US’ Asian rival. Just three months after 9/11, the Bush administration signed off on China’s accession to the WTO, and China’s economy shifted into high gear. By the end of Bush’s second term, in 2008, China’s GDP had reached US$4.6 trillion — more than 31 percent of the US’. Today, China’s GDP stands at about 65 percent of the US level. In effect, Trump revived great power competition — focused primarily on containing China — as the organizing principle of US foreign policy.

Source: Taipei Times January 15, 2020 09:08 UTC