On this episode of China Uncensored,
Trump’s inauguration means change!
And not just for that Chinese Obama impersonator
who's about to be out of a job.
Hi, welcome to China Uncensored,
I’m your host Chris Chappell.
This Friday,
Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the 45th president
of the United States.
Now Trump has repeatedly said he’ll be hard on China
when he enters office.
Exact details are a bit sparse,
but hey,
how could you not trust this guy?
You know,
it used to be politicians just needed to wear a flag pin
to prove they loved America.
Anyway,
it's clear that the relationship between China and the US
will never be the same.
But what’s gonna change?
I mean,
China already built a wall and paid for it—
but that was ages ago.
So let’s take a look at 5 YUUUGE ways Trump’s inauguration
is going to change US-China relations.
Number 5
Currency Manipulation
Donald Trump has promised to label China
a “currency manipulator.”
I’m going to instruct my Treasury Secretary
to label China a currency manipulator,
which should have been done years ago.
Yes, it should have been done years ago.
For much of the last 20 years,
the Chinese regime manipulated its currency
to keep it weak,
so that China could become the world leader in cheap labor,
cheap goods,
and confused childhoods.
That made China’s economy grow.
But it’s also one of many reasons
why the US lost millions of manufacturing jobs.
It also helped create a huge trade imbalance
with China.
But more recently,
the Chinese regime has the opposite problem.
China’s economy is slowing down.
And wealthy Chinese are moving their money out of the country.
These are two reasons why the Chinese currency
is weak to the point of being unhealthy.
So now the regime has been manipulating their currency
the other way,
trying to keep it strong.
In other words,
the Chinese regime is now manipulating their currency
in a way that helps the US.
So even if Trump could force China
to stop manipulating its currency now...
it wouldn’t really benefit the US.
Of course, labeling China a “currency manipulator”
doesn't actually force them to do anything.
So Trump has another idea:
Slap tariffs on China.
But that could lead to...
Number 4
Trade War
Ah, the kind of war whose greatest weapon
is how boring it is to talk about.
This really deserves its own episode.
But Trump has been criticizing trade with China
since the Republican primaries.
China is ripping us on trade,
devaluing their currency
and killing our companies.
Of course it’s always important to remember
what presidents say on the campaign trail
and what they actually do
are two very different things.
When Bill Clinton first ran,
he criticized George Bush Senior
for being soft on the “butchers of Beijing.”
And then…
well, that’s sort of the reason why we’re where we are now.
Trump has threatened to slap tariffs on Chinese imports.
That’s going to be challenging,
because legally, you can only put tariffs on specific goods,
not on an entire country.
And I mean you can’t.
Trump will probably decide he can do anything he wants.
Even it it means flying in the face of international trade laws.
And starting a trade war.
And the loser in that...
would be the Chinese regime.
China’s economy is slowing,
and the regime has maintained its grip on power
by promising economic stability.
Anything that poses a risk to that poses a risk
to the Communist Party’s leadership.
As for the US,
a trade war would hurt,
but not as much as it would hurt China.
China could lose millions of jobs,
while the US could always buy its cheap nightmare toys
from Malaysia, Vietnam, and so on.
So what does Xi Jinping think about this?
It's hard to tell.
Ok, actually, I guess it's pretty clear.
Speaking of unwinnable wars...
Number 3
North Korea
Remember this fun little prediction
back in September last year?
Probably by the end of the first term
of the person we’re electing this November,
they are going to have the ability
to put nuclear warheads on missiles
that can reach the West Coast of the United States.
Well, we now know that person is Trump.
The Hermit Kingdom is,
well, kind of in everyone’s face right now.
North Korea now has enough plutonium
to make 10 nuclear bombs.
Thanks, Obama.
Sorry, I know that doesn’t make any sense here,
but it's basically the last time I can use that.
Really, we have this guy to thank,
walking hemorrhoid and former Chinese leader,
Jiang Zemin.
According to this Radio Free Asia report,
he started giving nuclear material to North Korea
after he took office in 1989.
Anyway, Trump holds China partly responsible
for the North Korean nuclear problem.
So China should get involved,
and China should solve that problem,
and we should put pressure on China
to solve the problem.
But Trump doesn’t want to just rely on China.
Maybe it’s a lot better for us,
if Japan pays its own way,
they arm and they take care of North Korea
instead of us taking care of it.
And he’s said similar things about South Korea.
But South Korea should pay us,
and pay us very substantially,
for protecting them.
Or else they can just protect themselves.
So Trump’s solution to a nuclear North Korea
is a nuclear South Korea
and a nuclear Japan.
Which will go down so well with nuclear China.
One big nuclear family.
Let’s just hope they don’t go hugging each other
with nuclear arms.
But what happens to the children of divorce?
Well, that brings us to...
Number 2
Taiwan
Trump was changing US-Taiwan relations
even before becoming president.
China considers Taiwan a breakaway province
and is committed to reunification.
And by reunification they mean conquest.
But the Chinese regime has been kind enough
to hold off invasion plans
as long as everyone agrees
to the One China policy—
where everyone collectively pretends that Taiwan
is not a country.
So they weren’t happy when Trump
became the first president in over 40 years
to accept a phone call
from the president of Taiwan—
and then say the entire One China Policy is negotiable.
Now, state-run media China Daily is saying
“China will take off the gloves,”
if Trump continues.
What does that mean?
Well according to hardcore state-run media,
the Global Times,
that means merciless reunification.
And they really mean it.
No, seriously.
Seriously.
And speaking of disputed territories
that I have personally been to...
Number 1
The South China Sea
Well, if Taiwan is the region
that China doesn’t really want to go to war over,
the South China Sea is the US’s war bluff.
The Chinese military has been aggressively expanding
in disputed territorial waters there.
China may or may not have historical claims to that region,
but man—does the Communist Party
have to be such jerks about it?
Attacking fishermen?
Building military bases?
I mean, what ever happened to “sharing is caring,” people?
Sharing is something you can do
whenever you want to.
Do they even have Care Bears in China?
Ok, sort of.
Back to the South China Sea.
In the last few years under President Obama,
US naval presence flooded the region,
intimidating China so much that...
they would steal a research drone right in front of them.
But according to Trump’s new Secretary of State,
that’s going to change.
We’re going to have to send China a clear signal
that first the island-building stops
and second your access to those islands
is also not going to be allowed.”
Using the US military to blockade China from the region
would be a big change.
It would also put Chinese leader Xi Jinping at risk.
He’s locked in a massive battle for power
over the Communist Party.
Xi can’t afford to look weak,
especially against the US
on issues like Taiwan and the South China Sea.
If Trump has an aggressive China policy,
Xi may be forced to take a more aggressive stance
against the US to maintain his position.
Trump has been...unpredictable.
At first,
many thought Trump’s isolationist policies
would pull the US out of Asia
and let China sweep the South China Sea.
But it’s looking like that’s not going to happen.
So as we move forward
into the beginning of the Trump Presidency,
may it be huge and everlasting,
what do you think is in store for the US?
And China?
Leave your comments below.
Once again I’m Chris Chappell,
and you know what,
why the heck not,
one last time!
Thanks, Obama.