Wang Hao, "Dual Logic of the Adjustment of the Trump Administration’s China Policy and Their Interactions," World Economics and Politics, No.3,2018

【Abstract】The author constructs a dual-logic analytic framework by introducing geopolitics and domestic politics to discuss the evolution of the U.S. China policy as well as its adjustment under the Trump Administration. In this framework, the U.S. China policy has two  dimensions: security and economy, which reflect the logic of geopolitics and domestic politics respectively. Therefore, it is the dual logic of geopolitics-domestic policies and their interactions that determine the evolution of U.S. China policy. In terms of security, strategic balancing and strategic restraint are two basic forms, while in terms of economy, liberalism and nationalism are two main options. Therefore, we can summarize the evolution of the U.S. China policy as follows: geopolitics-dominated containment(strategic balancing and economic nationalism, 1949-1971), geopolitics-dominated engagement (strategic restraint and economic liberalism, 1972-1991); domestic geopolitics-dominated engagement(strategic restraint and economic liberalism, 1992-2008); hedging with dual-logic(strategic balancing and economic liberalism,2009-2016).Since the Trump Administration took office, the U.S. China policy has been adjusted to a domestic politics-dominated linkage, which is featured by strategic restraint and  economic nationalism. In the meantime, a tougher China policy thinking based on geopolitics is becoming the consensus of American establishment elites. Therefore, the future of the U.S. China policy will depend on the interactions of these two kinds of logics.

【Keywords】 geopolitics, domestic politics, the Trump Administration, U.S.-China relations, dual logic

【Author】  Wang Hao, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of the Center for American Studies, Fudan University.

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