Trump is reckless – but he knows he can't afford to antagonise China | Barry Eichengreen

His comments during the campaign didn't bolster high hopes, but his summit with Xi Jinping showed he needs China's business

Donald Trump's comments about China during the US presidential campaign didn't exactly bolster high hopes for Sino-American relations once he was elected. Trump denounced China for "taking our jobs" and "[stealing] hundreds of billions of dollars in our intellectual property". He repeatedly accused China of manipulating its currency. The low point came last May, when Trump warned his followers: "We can't continue to allow China to rape our country. That's what they're doing. It's the greatest theft in the history of the world."

Given such inflammatory rhetoric, many people understandably felt considerable trepidation in the runup to Trump's summit with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. It wasn't hard to imagine a refused handshake or the presentation of a bill for payment, like the one Trump reportedly gave the visiting German chancellor, Angela Merkel, (a report denied by the White House).

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