What Does China Want?

There has been no shortage of dizzying shifts in American foreign policy since Donald Trump returned to the White House last year. But perhaps none have been as surprising as the shift on China. In his first term, Trump helped create a hard-line consensus centered on fears of a growing threat. Now, he seems much more interested in striking deals—as he presumably will be when Xi Jinping comes to Washington later this month.

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Many analysts of U.S. China policy have reacted to this reversal with dismay. But Jessica Chen Weiss sees it as an opportunity to forge a more sensible approach. Weiss, a professor and the faculty director of the Institute for America, China, and the Future of Global Affairs at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a former State Department official, has warned of the dangers of zero-sum thinking about China in a series of essays for Foreign Affairs. Her most recent essay, in the September/October issue, focuses on the myth and the reality of China’s critical mineral dominance.

Dan Kurtz-Phelan spoke to Weiss on August 31 about what China wants—which is also the title of her forthcoming book—and what U.S. foreign policy can do to meet those ambitions without resorting to dangerous confrontation.

Sources:

“How China Found Its Most Potent Weapon” by Gloria Xiong and Jessica Chen Weiss

What China Wants by Jessica Chen Weiss

“The China Trap” by Jessica Chen Weiss

“The Case Against the China Consensus” by Jessica Chen Weiss

“A World Safe for Autocracy?” by Jessica Chen Weiss

Institute for America, China, and the Future of Global Affairs at Johns Hopkins SAIS

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“The Cost of Keeping China Out” by Peter Cowhey and Meg Rithmire

“Taiwan and the True Sources of Deterrence” by Bonnie S. Glaser, Jessica Chen Weiss, and Thomas J. Christensen

This episode of The Foreign Affairs Interview was produced by Adelaide Parker, Ben Metzner, and Kanishk Tharoor, with audio engineering by Todd Yeager and original music by Robin Hilton. Special thanks to Irina Hogan.

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