Fraying US-China ties tested by Trump ahead of polls

Bloomberg

The almost daily drumbeat of tensions between the US and China shows little sign of letting up, while touching on everything from the coronavirus to trade to defense issues to monetary policy.
President Donald Trump has made his tough positions on China a key element in the lead-up to the US presidential election, now less than three months away, and he seems intent on keeping the pressure on.
Tensions have been mounting since the Covid-19 pandemic spread across the globe early this year. Barely a day goes by without Trump slamming
what he calls a “plague” unleashed on the world by China in press briefings, Twitter and elsewhere.
“We were unfairly treated by China because they could have stopped it,” Trump told reporters about the coronavirus.
Some China hawks in the Trump administration, from Secretary of State Michael Pompeo to White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, see a historic opening to re-balance decades of US-China relations. Senior officials from Washington and Beijing late last week postponed trade talks that had been set for this past weekend to discuss the status of the “phase one” trade deal signed early in the year.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian declined to answer a question on the timing of the meeting at a briefing in Beijing on Monday.
Against that background, it’s unclear how heated things may get between now and November, while the provocations mount:
The Trump administration approved the sale of F-16 military jets to Taiwan, and the president ordered the Chinese owner of the TikTok to sell its US assets after a review of the national security dangers posed by the popular music video app.
The president earlier this month moved to ban WeChat, a popular social networking and mobile payment app developed by Chinese Internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd.
Trump boasted about the actions he’s taken against Huawei Technologies, including jawboning other countries into avoiding the Chinese firm’s products, and didn’t rule out actions against other companies.
While he didn’t elaborate, those comments are sure to keep markets on edge.
The President’s Working Group on Financial Markets this month said US stock exchanges should set new rules that could trigger the delisting of Chinese companies.
The administration has also taken a markedly tough stance against Beijing’s crackdown on political and press freedoms in Hong Kong, including the recent sanctions on a range of officials, and China’s treatment of ethnic minorities.
Although bilateral trade talks seem to be on hold for now, Trump said China is buying large amounts of US corn, soybeans and cattle.
“China has been buying a lot of — a lot of things, and they’re doing that to keep me happy,”
he said.