What is Donald Trump planning to do, which no US President could do, swords will be drawn between Russia and China
Donald Trump, who is going to become President for the second time after winning the US election, has once again created a stir in international politics. This time his target is the growing closeness between Russia and China. Trump believes that if America succeeds in creating a rift between Russia and China, then it will benefit America in global politics.
In fact, reports of a phone call between Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have surfaced. However, the Kremlin immediately rejected it. This conversation has given a new glimpse of the direction and tone of the relationship between them. According to the Washington Post, Trump spoke to Putin on November 7 and warned him to avoid increasing any kind of attack in Ukraine. Also, he reminded Putin that “Washington has a large military presence in Europe”.
Whether this incident happened or not, if any – even indirect – message has been exchanged between the two, then it should be taken seriously by America’s western allies and Russia’s eastern major partner, China’s Xi Jinping. There has been a lot of such exchanges in the last few months.
On the day of the alleged phone call, Putin gave a long speech at the annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club think tank in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. Not surprisingly, his speech – and subsequent answers to questions from the audience – were anti-Western and he confidently stated that a new world order is now in the “stage of actual construction”.
But at the same time, Putin praised Trump, calling him a “courageous person” and said he would consider any proposal Trump made to restore US-Russia relations and end the Ukrainian crisis. He then spoke at length about relations between Russia and China, where his focus was more on his old friend, Chinese President Xi Jinping, than on the new US president.
The reason for this lies in a message Trump gave to Putin and Xi. Trump told Tucker Carlson at a campaign event on October 31 that he would work to “separate” Russia and China. Trump has pointed out that the two are “natural enemies” because Russia has vast territory that China wants for its population.
Russia and China have a history of territorial disputes over the long land border in Siberia. This was part of the Sino-Soviet split in the 1960s, which preceded the start of US relations with China in the 1970s under then-President Richard Nixon. Unlike Nixon, Trump has sought to reset the US relationship with Moscow rather than Beijing. Such a split between Russia and China is hard to imagine today, but Trump’s desire to exploit disagreements between Russia and China is not entirely unrealistic.
On the surface, Putin and Xi Jinping seem very close to each other. But a deeper look into the relationship between Russia and China reveals that it is primarily a relationship between their current leaders and lacks the depth of other alliances. There is a lot of resentment in Russia towards China among both the public and policymakers. Russians are concerned about China’s growing role in Central Asia and are also worried about potential conflicts over long-disputed borders. Many are also upset that Moscow has now become Beijing’s junior partner.
All these issues could be used by Trump to drive a wedge between Russia and China, but a lot depends on what Putin sees as a benefit to Russia in this. Western countries should focus on what Trump’s Ukraine policy will be like and what impact it will have on Ukraine and Western countries.
Experts are divided on Trump’s statement. Some believe that Trump’s strategy could be successful, while others say that the relationship between Russia and China has become so strong that it will be difficult to break it. Only time will tell how effective this new move of Trump will prove to be in international politics, but one thing is certain that Trump has once again drawn everyone’s attention towards himself.
