Demtarts wanted some symbolic fluff in order to embarrass Trump by making him veto it, lest the Chicoms get riled. But he went and signed it. Chicoms are riled, but since they haven’t closed a deal yet, he’s using this as leverage to incentivize them to move forward. This is not John Kerry’s foreign policy.
YOU are RIGHT ON!!!!
The Chinese slaughtered the people in Tianamen Square because they knew the US admin at the time was convinced the US ‘needed’ the Chinese more than the Chinese needed us. The PRC knew the US would do whatever it took to ignore or distract criticism of the slaughter and would move to snuff out coverage before it could affect the bottom line.
The Chinese have no such assurances this time... quite the opposite, and so they’ll have to be very careful with the protesters, at least so long as Trump’s in office. Unless they can take out Trump, the Chinese either have to make a deal or wait through the rest of this term plus 4 yrs and possibly a Pence admin too before they can get another weak admin to bow to them.