Trump's choice of China hawks signals rough seas ahead for bilateral ties

Foreign policy experts project that Beijing is in for an unprecedentedly tough time

- Tan Dawn Wei

On July 13, 2020, then Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying announced at a daily news conference that Beijing was imposing retaliatory sanctions on a number of Americans for "serious interference in China's internal affairs".

Among the four was congressman Marco Rubio, who had been instrumental in pushing through a Bill that bans US companies from sourcing goods made by forced labour in China's western Xinjiang region.

The problem is: Mr Rubio, one of the most unpopular politicians in China, is now going to be in charge of handling Washington's relationship with Beijing.

Seen as among the most vociferous China critics on Capitol Hill, the 53-year-old has been picked by President-elect Donald Trump as secretary of state.

"The Chinese will see this as Trump throwing down the gauntlet," said Associate Professor Hoo Tiang Boon, who studies China's foreign policy and US-China relations at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

"Trump made this move out of his own political considerations, not necessarily because of specific foreign policy considerations," he added.

"But from the Chinese perspective, it will be seen as a slap in the face, and it will certainly create complications."

Foreign policy experts have projected that Beijing is in for an unprecedentedly tough time, now that Trump has begun to stack his new Cabinet with China hawks.

There is his national security adviser pick, congressman Mike Waltz, 50, a member of the House China Task Force, which looks at how the US can compete with China.