Trump, Xi, and the Next China Showdown
Fox Business interview: Michael Pillsbury warns Beijing may be stalling as new U.S. tariffs loom
In an interview on Fox Business, China expert and Fox News contributor Michael Pillsbury downplayed talk of a violent power struggle in Beijing but warned that factional infighting could shape who leads China over the next several years.
“This looks more like the factional conflict about who is going to be in charge in the next two or three years in China,” Pillsbury said, contrasting it with the 1976 arrest of the Gang of Four, which involved the military and top leadership upheaval.
Pillsbury noted that President Donald Trump’s deep familiarity with Chinese leadership, built through five summits with Xi Jinping, has given Washington an unusual level of insight into Beijing’s internal politics. “President Trump has an extraordinary knowledge of Xi Jinping and the politics at the top in China,” he said, adding that Xi and his team have even read the Chinese translation of Trump’s Art of the Deal.
Turning to trade negotiations, Pillsbury cast doubt on progress being made in Malaysia,where Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer are holding talks with Chinese officials. “This is the fourth time now that Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent is meeting with his Chinese counterparts… In each case, they did not release a joint statement. That means there’s no deal,” he said.
According to Pillsbury, China is playing for time ahead of the likely summit between Trump and Xi next week. “In Art of the Deal, the Chinese know bluffing takes place until we actually put the spurs on China with some kind of tariffs, probably in the 50% range,” Pillsbury said. “I don’t think the Chinese are going to make a deal. I think they’re going to stall for time, and President Trump knows this.”
Pillsbury concluded that the upcoming meeting could be a make-or-break moment for U.S./China relations: “The mystery now is whether we can put pressure on China to make an important deal at this summit — or are we just going to be tapped along again?”
