China expert and Hudson Institute analyst Michael Pillsbury said Friday on Fox News that President-elect Donald Trump’s comprehensive strategy to engage China could prompt major concessions from the country.
During an appearance on “The Ingraham Angle,” Pillsbury said Trump’s approach reminds him of a diplomatic style reminiscent of Ronald Reagan’s era.
“The president-elect Trump is revealing his China strategy for the whole next four years. And it’s brilliant. It’s taken part of it out of “The Art Of The Deal,” part of it’s out of President Trump’s admiration for Ronald Reagan and Reagan’s negotiating style,” Pillsbury said. “We put a lot of pressure on the adversary, even intimidate him, but always leave a way out and have respect and finally get agreements so that we saw Reagan.”
Drawing parallels to Reagan’s tactics, Pillsbury said the balance of pressure and respect in negotiations is strategic.
“We know he went from the evil empire and the ash bin of history to saying that it was a long time ago. Now we had a new era and eventually get the collapse of the Soviet Communist Party,” Pillsbury said, referring to Reagan’s previous approach.
Pillsbury added that China’s actions signal a respect toward Trump’s administration and could potentially lead to significant concessions from China. He said that this potential de-escalation could lead to breakthroughs in areas where China has traditionally resisted American interests.
“I think President Trump is revealing today how he’s gonna manage things. And, frankly, what we can look for now is this very dangerous encirclement every day of Chinese Communist jet fighters and ships around Taiwan. Sometimes 20, sometimes 30 bombers and ships. If that’s reduced in the near term, that will be a gesture of respect toward President Trump,” Pillsbury said. “I think we’ll be on the right track to get a lot more concessions from China in all the other areas where they’ve been working against us for so long.”
This discussion follows the announcement that China’s Vice President Han Zheng would attend Trump’s inauguration. Trump initially extended invitations to Chinese President Xi Jinping and other world leaders for his upcoming presidential inauguration, though Xi declined and opted to send Zheng instead.
Trump said Friday that he had a productive phone conversation with Jinping, discussing trade, TikTok, fentanyl, and other key issues. Trump added that the dialogue with Xi was “a very good one,” covering a range of topics crucial to both nations.
Trump said he is committed to implementing broad tariffs on foreign imports and targeting nations like China, Canada, and Mexico to pressure them into curbing illegal drug trafficking and immigration.
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