Report Card for Donald Trump

[SomeGuy]

Quote:Could you expand on the bolded part?  Thanks

Trump has voiced a desire to put things like "One China" on the table.  He spoke to Tsai.  He's talked about sending more and more advanced weapons to Taiwan.  Even the islands/reefs in the SCS are a flashpoint.  Territorial issues are a sensitive subject for China, especially where Western powers are involved.  This sort of saber-rattling/button-pushing, even if it is just a negotiating tactic, could provoke a much larger reaction than anticipated, especially if it took place during a time of deteriorating economic relations and slowing growth in the two economics, as could result from pursuit of his trade policies.  The PRC is not a democracy, but that doesn't mean it is devoid of internal politics or public pressure.  It would not be out of the question for tit for tat gambits by either power escalating rapidly.
China's rising civic generation has a severe sex imbalance as well, in a manner not unprecedented in Chinese history.  This has traditionally be correlated with violence and unrest, which can be channeled but not necessarily suppressed.  They have about reached the end of the growth model they have been following for the past 30+ years, and the rising hysteria in the US about Putin's Russia this past couple of years could just as easily become a rising hysteria about China given the right circumstances.  Both powers could perceive themselves as acting defensively and the other as being unreasonably aggressive.  Look at the lead-up to WWI.