Trump makes little mention of China in the longest State of the Union speech

BEIJING — U.S. President Donald Trump avoided directly naming China in his State of the Union address on Tuesday, just weeks before his trip to Beijing.

In the longest State of the Union (SOTU) speech by any U.S. president, Trump addressed a variety of topics, from inflation and tariffs to stock market records.

But it is notable that he does not directly mention China, other than referencing “Russian and Chinese military technology” that protected Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during the operation that led to the foreign leader’s capture.

During Trump’s first term, from 2017 to 2021, he made direct reference to the Chinese nation in all three of his State of the Union addresses. The statements largely emphasized Beijing’s threat to the United States

“Trump doesn’t want to fight with China in an election year,” said Gabriel Wildau, Teneo’s chief executive, referring to the US midterm elections in November.

“Stability in U.S.-China relations is a priority for the President at least this year and potentially for the remainder of his term,” Wildau said. he said.

To continue that relationship, Trump plans to visit Beijing from March 31 to April 2, the first visit by a U.S. president since 2017.

However, George Chen, partner of The Asia Group, stated that the Chinese foreign ministry has not yet confirmed the exact date of the visit. “This makes Trump look even more desperate than how much time he spends visiting China [Chinese president Xi Jinping] He wants to welcome him.”

“The fact that Trump did not mention China at all in his speech is another example of how cautious Trump is currently regarding US-China relations,” Chen said.

China and the United States increased tariffs on each other’s goods to more than 100% last spring, then reached a trade truce in October. Tariffs below 50% for next year. Beijing has also tightened its restrictions on rare earth exports worldwide. The Asian country dominates the global supply chain of rare earths, critical minerals used in various technologies.

“The state of the Union showed that Trump thinks touting the US military’s victories over weak states like Venezuela makes better election-year politics than fighting China over rare earths,” Wildau said. he said.

Uncertainty about tariffs increased over the weekend after the U.S. Supreme Court last week struck down tariffs Trump imposed on several countries last year. Trump then quickly pointed to an alternative basis for raising the global tariff rate.

In social media posts on Weibo, two Chinese state media outlets highlighted opposition to Trump’s speech within Congress. Otherwise, local interest in Trump’s speech in China was muted.

Yue Su, chief economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), said Trump’s limited mention of China also reflects how unpredictable his policy towards Beijing can be.

“Against this, [Democrat U.S. President Joe] “Biden repeatedly referred to China in his speeches, underscoring a degree of continuity and predictability in his China policy,” he said.

The Democratic Party’s rebuttal to Trump’s State of the Union proposal on Tuesday focused squarely on Beijing.

Refuting that claim, Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger said, “But while the President talks about his perceived successes tonight, he continues to cede economic and technological power to Russia, bow to China, bow to a Russian dictator, and plot war with Iran.”

For a US president Although Xi was mentioned by name in public speeches, the world’s second largest economy was not mentioned in the SOTU speech, indicating a strategic move.