Noah Feldman, Columnist

Trump's 180-Degree Turn on China Policy

The Bush and Obama administrations let China grow, but were wary of its military. Trump seems wary of the economy instead.

December 27, 2016 at 2:00 PM UTC

By Noah Feldman

Noah Feldman is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A professor of law at Harvard University, he is author, most recently, of “To Be a Jew Today: A New Guide to God, Israel, and the Jewish People."

Exit stage left.
Photographer: Pool, via Getty Images

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The U.S.-China relationship is ending 2016 on its most ominous note in years. President-elect Donald Trump has questioned the one-China policy that has been the default American position and angered mainland China by taking a congratulatory call from Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-Wen. China has reciprocated with barely veiled aggression, adding visible anti-aircraft systems to the artificial islands it has dredged out of the South China Sea and seizing an underwater American drone from under the nose of a U.S. warship.

The big question for 2017 is whether the two sides will let the relationship unravel further. Will their cool war become more “war” and less “cool”?