A newly confident China is jockeying for more global clout as Trump pulls back

Feeling empowered after a clash over trade, Beijing looks to exploit America’s inward turn

- Yaroslav Trofimov

US president Donald Trump (left) with China's president Xi Jinping.

(REUTERS)

China is flexing its muscles, showing new confidence fueled by a belief that President Trump's retreat from overseas commitments and his focus on the Western Hemisphere and trade deals create unique opportunities for Beijing.

As bonds between the U.S. and other democracies come under strain, Beijing’s new assertiveness also stems from pride over China's prowess in future-defining technologies, from artificial intelligence to high-speed rail and clean energy. Those achievements come in parallel with a rapid military buildup.

“Trump is pragmatic, and he sees China rising in hard power and also in soft power. By concentrating on the Americas rather than doing a pivot to Asia and spreading too thin on every front, by retreating while being on good terms with China, the Americans can still maybe maintain their dominance of global affairs for 20 or 30 years,” said Wang Huiyao, founder and president of the Center for China and Globalization think tank in Beijing.

The turning point, the consensus in China’s foreign-policy establishment holds, came after a confrontation over trade tariffs, rare earths and export restrictions ended with a temporary truce struck by Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea in October.

This climbdown from what one U.S. official described as “an economic equivalent of nuclear war”—barriers that would have deprived China, and the U.S., of vital materials and components—has ushered in a new era in Sino-American relations, many Chinese analysts believe: By striking back hard, China has demonstrated its might, earning peer status for the first time and forcing America to retreat.