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.

Most of Trump’s rhetoric and new thinking about foreign relations have not materialized, and he basically has returned to the old track of conventional US diplomatic thinking. “Obsolete” NATO is once again the “unbreakable alliance”, and his attitude toward China is also now in line with previous US policy.

The new Trump administration is well aware of the significance of China-US relations for the US, and the Chinese side is also eager to see a rapid and smooth transition of bilateral ties. Both sides, therefore, share a desire to have their leaders meet as soon as possible, and Secretary Tillerson’s visit this week has created a sound atmosphere for the meeting.

The Trump administration’s China policy is still in the works, but its goal would not be to sabotage China-US relations, but to extract maximum benefit from the relationship. Reasonable, calculated and restrained counter-moves may promote the other side to adjust its policies.

Last month, China commemorated the 20th anniversary of the death of Deng Xiaoping, the chief architect of the economic reform and opening up that catapulted the country to the top rungs of the global economic ladder. The anniversary comes at a time when economic openness is under threat, as the United States is now being led by a president who believes that the way to “make America great again” is to close it off from the world.

America’s biggest enemy today is neither China nor Russia, but its own identity crisis. Resorting to out-of-date thinking to seek a new “balancing” strategy of realigned alliances makes no sense in today’s economically interdependent world. Turning potential friends into foes, on the other hand, could lead the country in a terrible direction.

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.

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.

Trump should be wary of two major traps that history has set for him - the “Thucydides Trap", as well as the “Kindleberger Trap”: a China that seems too weak rather than too strong.

President Trump, in clinging to this narrative, promises to fight a war long past with weapons that are likely to hurt his allies as much as his supposed enemy. Hardly a vision of America being made great again.