I think Reagan realized that the Soviet Union was fragile. If pushed, it might collapse. He pushed; they collapsed.
I think Trump realizes that China is fragile. If we simply look out for our own interests (for a change) we can recapture a huge part of the global economy. Why wouldn’t we push?
China needs US, we don’t need them. Mr Trump is just reminding them of that pesky little fact.
Peter Navarro was co-author of “Death by China: Confronting the Dragon”, a treatise on the lopsided and basically fixed game the US has been playing with China, with China so far in the lead it is going to take a huge effort to even get back to a partially leveled playing field.
The first step in the resolution of any problem is first to define what the problem is. And you can bet the Chinese have parsed Navarro’s work very carefully.
Putting China in turmoil is not a bad foreign strategy at all. When they come to Trump and ask, what can we do to make it stop, Trump may then reply, now that you mention it, there is a short list of what would be beneficial to both of us.
Well said.