Ironically, in launching its economic campaign to protest South Korean deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system, Beijing is effectively doing Washington’s bidding. U.S. policymakers long have worried about the PRC’s economic draw on the South. As China voluntarily curbs those ties, American officials couldn’t be happier.

The decision to deploy a Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in the Republic of Korea (ROK) by the ROK and the United States caused strong diplomatic reactions from China. Further negative interactions between the ROK and China may develop if the two countries cannot find a solution.

The new president is sounding themes that he has stuck with since his surprise election, promising to crush ISIS and promoting NATO, but demanding that allies pay their share of defense costs. America, he insists, seeks friends and peace in the world.

In China’s foreign relations regarding the South China Sea (SCS) Issues, Vietnam is undoubtedly one of the key countries that China has to face and need to be handled well for its overall good neighbourly relations in its regional foreign policy.

Economic cooperation and trade frictions will probably simultaneously increase as the new American government’s “buy American and hire American” focus as it seeks greater economic benefits with its trading partners. But there are many areas where the interests of China and the US converge, which the leaders of both countries clearly appreciate.

The recent Lotte crisis is a recurring incident in East Asia’s power dynamic: one country wields economic weapons to score geopolitical goals against another. In a region where China and U.S. lack strategic trust and security cooperation, everyone stands to lose when economics and geopolitics get tangled. Keeping the two in separate dimensions and preventing risks from one realm spilling over into the other are imperative.

Since his days on the campaign trail, Trump has been a huge critic of China. However, he will need to come to terms with the fact that criticizing and alienating China, especially over the threat that North Korea poses, is not wise. North Korea will serve as a test of not just Trump’s ability to make a deal but also his ability to employ diplomacy with a rival to address a common and growing threat.

For more than four decades, China-US relations have been guided by the foundation enshrined in the Joint Communique. The ‘no conflict, no confrontation’ principle advocated by China remains the bottom line of bilateral relations, and the lynchpin is the one-China policy. With China’s growth and prosperity today, there is every reason to be confident in the future of China-US relations.

The first month of Trump’s presidency has been a useful primer for Chinese officials, albeit an unpleasant one. China was certainly watching the Trump-Abe meeting for cues on how the new president conducts himself with foreign leaders.

If Americans interpret current Chinese activities to be a reaction to American weakness, they will likely come to a very different understanding of Beijing’s motives than if they viewed China’s actions as a response to American strength. Unfortunately, much of the discussion on this topic issues from assumptions that are not always critically evaluated.