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Clash Of The Superpowers Ameri Episode 1 Engsub
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00:04Xi Jinping and Donald Trump the leaders of the world's most powerful countries are locked in a
00:11high-stakes battle for global power and influence it's a fight that's threatened to explode since
00:19Trump first took office tore up the diplomatic rule book and smashed the consensus on free trade
00:26we lose almost 500 billion dollars a year with China and we want to know what's wrong with us
00:34we are about to help President Trump affect the biggest shift in U.S. foreign policy since the
00:40end of the Cold War now with both sides staking their claims on different parts of the world
00:46this is the story of how these two superpowers have become tangled in a struggle for economic
00:51supremacy with repercussions everywhere we have to realize there's this crisis and we have to take
00:58action to change the alternative is total defeat we'll hear from top U.S. officials and Chinese
01:06academics who give the inside track from Beijing when the president's off the handle you don't know
01:14what's going to happen as well as those caught in the middle of this dangerous standoff the message
01:21from the White House was the president of the United States wants you to choose and he wants you to
01:27choose America
01:46a few days before Donald Trump was first sworn in as president Xi Jinping headed to the Swiss Alps
01:54the leader of the world's largest communist country was there to join the business and political
02:00elites at the annual world economic forum this is first time president Xi attended so China want to
02:10make a clear point where we stand on international economic system
02:19Davos is an extraordinary environment it's jammed solid with the world's political leaders bankers financiers
02:29this year in particular was extraordinary because Trump was about to be inaugurated and many of us were quite alarmed
02:42we had never seen a politician like Trump nobody know his quality how he operates
02:50Trump was clearly turning his back on free trade and open markets the traditional American mantras that
02:59had led the free world for for decades and then enrolls president Xi in a magnificent piece of theater
03:08and delivers a speech which says essentially I am the custodian of free trade and open markets
03:40I never thought in my lifetime to see a communist leader actually to defend the free trade
03:46but remember free trade is good for China the other thing is to remind Trump that this is your system
03:54you created to benefit you and also benefit the rest of the world
03:58so you better keep it don't abandon the ship you are the captain
04:06people didn't know whether he was taking the mickey a little bit at first it was such an extraordinary counterintuitive
04:15speech for Xi to be making
04:18follow me work with me to ensure that we don't allow anyone in brackets incoming U.S. President Trump
04:26to trample down this magnificent free trading structure that has made us all so much more prosperous
04:37he saw an opportunity and he took it it was a brilliantly crafted intervention and it completely stole the show
04:46Xi was the toast of Davos
04:50Quite a journey for a man who'd become leader of the Chinese Communist Party
04:55the CCP only four years earlier
05:03he'd take an office promising to build on a booming economy and to reclaim China's centuries-old place as a
05:10leading nation of the world
05:12he called his vision the Chinese dream
05:28The Chinese dream is that China will restore its previous position
05:36It's not China will dominate or try to take over the world
05:43In the West the press call it rise of China which is a total misnomer
05:50Xi make a point saying this is a restoration not rice
05:55Please welcome the next President of the United States Mr. Donald J. Trump
06:02Now Trump was heading to the White House with his own promise to make his country great again
06:09His victory followed a campaign where he put China front and center of his foreign policy
06:15In his own unique style
06:17We can't continue to allow China to rape our country and that's what they're doing
06:24It's the greatest theft in the history of the world
06:30One of the first times I briefed President Trump was during the campaign
06:35I get about four sentences into my briefing my brilliant briefing on China
06:39And then Donald Trump with like a staccato approach starts firing questions at me
06:46What's China's GNP?
06:48What's the trade and balance between the United States and China?
06:51Is there military any good?
06:54And then I realized he cared about the balance of payments
06:59He knew about tariffs
07:01He understood the business aspect of the relationship
07:07For many decades we've made other countries rich
07:11While the wealth strength and confidence of our country has dissipated over the horizon
07:21He paid attention to a group of people what we call our rust belt the former manufacturing part of the
07:26United States
07:28He was the only candidate who recognized their legitimate pain
07:31And the only candidate who had a solution, which is we're going to go and renegotiate all those trade deals
07:37with China
07:39Together we will make America great again
07:43Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America
07:56I remember walking into the executive office building one day into the Trump presidency,
08:01and there's a big sign that lists all the meetings that are being held. And one of the titles is
08:07something like, let's talk about greater U.S.-China economic integration. This is a day into the
08:13Donald Trump administration, and he's just won an election with a significant part of his agenda
08:19being to fight off China's economic predation. And people in his bureaucracy, in his building,
08:26are having meetings about how we could do more economically with China.
08:32I was surprised by some of the assumptions that were being presented by longtime diplomats,
08:41longtime intelligence officers, and others. There was a view that really all that Beijing
08:47wanted, at the end of the day, was just to access a large American market and to prosper and thrive
08:53in a U.S.-dominated world order. I thought that those assessments were out of date, to put it mildly.
09:04In the 80s and 90s, the Chinese Communist Party had opened the country to Western markets,
09:10part of what they called socialism with Chinese characteristics.
09:16The country enjoyed unprecedented growth, which was given a huge boost in 2001,
09:22when China was welcomed into the WTO, the World Trade Organization.
09:28It defined China as a developing economy, meaning trade rules were applied more leniently,
09:34while the world's biggest companies continued to flood into the country.
09:39I was there as a reporter for Reuters news agency, all the way from the late 90s until 2005.
09:50It was a heady time. It was hard not to feel optimism that China would continue opening up,
09:59that its marketization would continue, and there was a hope the politics would begin to moderate as well.
10:09But by the time I left, I had this sinking feeling that many of those optimistic assumptions were going to
10:19be dashed.
10:22I think China entered the WTO with a really good deal.
10:27They got the benefits of participating in a global trading system,
10:31in which there were rules and norms,
10:34but it was given a special carve-out where it could pretend that it was a developing country,
10:40which I think is always tough when you're one of the world's largest consumers of Ferraris and Lamborghinis.
10:46It's entirely logical and sort of expected that Beijing would want to maintain that system.
10:56Coming into the White House, Trump's team included hawkish advisors
11:00who wanted to ensure the new president would deliver on his promise to take on China.
11:05But they knew that for all of Trump's tough talk,
11:08he had a reputation to protect as a champion of business.
11:13And he wanted to keep the CEOs on side,
11:16many of whom had moved manufacturing to China.
11:22In the White House, we had the two camps start to develop.
11:25The more globalist establishment camp
11:29and more of the kind of disruptors, populist, nationalist camp.
11:34The biggest fights were about China and trade.
11:37And that's because the reason is we had so many Wall Street guys.
11:41And look, I worked at Goldman Sachs.
11:43We had Goldman Sachs guys in there.
11:45Goldman Sachs and Wall Street is the investor relations partner for the Chinese CCP,
11:51this radical cadre that runs China.
11:55Chief amongst the Wall Street faction was Gary Cohn,
11:59the former president of Goldman Sachs
12:02and Trump's choice as his top economic advisor.
12:05As a market practitioner, I think that we can have a globalized world that works well.
12:14You want to expand your plant?
12:16Or when Mark wants to come in and build a big, massive plant?
12:20Or when Dell wants to come in and do something monstrous and special?
12:27You're going to have your approvals really fast.
12:29Thank you, sir.
12:30The question is, can we both be complementary to each other?
12:33I think the answer is yes.
12:38Whether the Hawks or the globalists would have their upper hand
12:41would be put to the test at Trump's first summit with Xi.
12:46As he got ready, the U.S. president was briefed by his national security advisor.
12:53President Trump is kind of reflexively contrarian.
12:56And because he's reflexively contrarian,
12:58if you advise President Trump and say,
13:01hey, everybody agrees, this is what you should say,
13:04he might just say the opposite to spite everybody.
13:07So what we decided is what we would emphasize with President Trump
13:11is what Xi Jinping wants him to say.
13:13And let President Trump be contrary to Xi Jinping
13:16rather than to his advisors.
13:23What we said to President Trump is how Xi Jinping uses this language that sounds nice
13:28or at least innocuous.
13:30And when the Chinese Communist Party officials say win-win,
13:32what they mean is they win twice.
13:36Xi arrived in America hoping Trump might back down from the aggressive threats of his campaign.
13:43For people in China, basically, we know every election,
13:47there's always a bashing China element somewhere.
13:50A lot of name calling, a lot of blaming.
13:53I think also the advisors that he's using at that time was very hawkish,
13:57like Steve Bannon, Matt Partinger, and all those people.
14:01But then normally when the new administration come into the White House,
14:05it becomes more, you know, pragmatic.
14:09President Xi attached great importance to the personal relationship.
14:14His personality is, he's very easygoing.
14:19He wants to make friends.
14:22And when he recognizes the other side as a friend,
14:25I think that will be very helpful for the bilateral relations.
14:31Trump had chosen to host Xi not at the White House,
14:34but at his Palm Beach resort, Mar-a-Lago.
14:39President Trump, he fancies himself as a great negotiator.
14:43And part of that is separating the relationship
14:45from the tough issues you're negotiating.
14:48Thank you, President. Thank you.
14:50He's in the hospitality business.
14:52He had his granddaughter, was learning Chinese.
14:56I wanted to make you feel and warm.
14:58Sing a Chinese folk song.
15:05This is a great move.
15:07It's very positive.
15:09It's like a family reunion.
15:16One of the biggest parts of Mar-a-Lago
15:19was time set aside for the two heads of state
15:23to be alone one-on-one.
15:26The two spent a vast amount of time together.
15:29And the main message the president was delivering to us
15:33is that, you know, he and Xi were hitting it off.
15:38It seems they like each other.
15:41Yeah, chemistry is good.
15:44We've had a long discussion already.
15:48And so far, I have gotten nothing.
15:51Absolutely nothing.
15:53But we have developed a friendship.
15:55I can see that.
15:56You know, President Trump, he's a New Yorker.
15:59I'm a New Yorker.
16:00And New York men of that certain age,
16:03they tend to say, he's my best friend.
16:04He's a pal of mine.
16:05I don't have much fault with doing.
16:07And they were not really friends.
16:08They've just met each other.
16:09And they probably have business interests together.
16:11But it doesn't mean they're golf buddies.
16:13So when President Trump says, oh, he's my friend,
16:16I think what that meant is that President Trump met him,
16:18he understands how he's going to negotiate with him.
16:20Thank you, everybody.
16:21Thank you very much.
16:28Xi wasn't only relying on his budding relationship with Trump.
16:32He'd long been working to ensure China would be at the center of global trade,
16:37with or without America.
16:41A month after Mar-a-Lago, he played hosts to leaders from around the world
16:45to celebrate his flagship initiative,
16:50Belt and Road.
16:58Harking back to the ancient Silk Road between East and West,
17:03Belt and Road aimed to better link China with the world,
17:06financing huge infrastructure projects.
17:11One of the most ambitious schemes ever conceived.
17:15It spanned continents with over a trillion dollars spent,
17:21showcasing China's ability to deliver world-leading feats of engineering.
17:27Now Xi put on a summit befitting its scale.
17:32The Chinese do know how to put on a show.
17:35The biggest rooms you've ever seen,
17:37vast banqueting tables,
17:39you know, more flowers than they've got in Kew Gardens.
17:42To invite President Xi to the podium.
17:46President Xi decided to make a Belt and Road Summit
17:49to assure the world
17:50if the U.S. is back to the protectionism,
17:54China is still there to help and to work with everybody.
17:59Well, the road is important in the demonstrating
18:02to the American president or American government
18:07that China could have alternative
18:11if Western countries decide to block
18:14or slow down Chinese economic activities.
18:26Cutting a somewhat lonely figure at the summit
18:28was the U.S. representative Matt Pottinger.
18:32One of the things that Beijing does
18:34is to try to create the sense
18:37that the Communist Party's success is inevitable.
18:40So come jump on the bandwagon.
18:45They wanted to assemble as many world leaders as possible
18:48to essentially endorse Belt and Road.
18:54I remember speaking to President Trump
18:56explaining that Belt and Road
18:58was actually a system
19:00designed to diminish the influence of the United States.
19:05It was an extremely opaque system
19:10whereby governments would have to surrender sovereignty
19:14over critical infrastructure
19:16as collateral
19:18in case they weren't able to pay back debts.
19:22And so it was really sort of a form of loan sharking
19:25on a global scale.
19:29Pottinger's line didn't go down well
19:30with the other attendees.
19:33One of them was Kenya's president
19:35whose country had just that month
19:37opened a multi-billion dollar new railway
19:39largely financed by China.
19:44Kenya took a big loan
19:45to build the standard gauge railway
19:48and it was never going to be easy paying it.
19:51But was there a Chinese debt trap?
19:54No.
19:55African countries are caught in a debt trap
19:57but it's not of Chinese making.
19:59The predominant amount of money
20:02owed by African states
20:04is owed to Western governments
20:07and private banks.
20:09The Americans were uncomfortable
20:11with any Chinese initiative
20:12that looked as though
20:14it had a strategic dimension.
20:16And this clearly was a strategic project.
20:18It was about projecting Chinese influence,
20:21securing Chinese supply lines
20:23and securing export routes as well.
20:27The same day that Xi was hosting
20:29his guests in Beijing,
20:32Trump's new trade representative
20:33was being sworn in.
20:38Robert Lighthizer had spent years
20:40accusing China of breaking trade rules.
20:42Thank you all very much for being here.
20:44I'm very grateful for your friendship.
20:46He quickly summoned top officials
20:48to the West Wing.
20:50The senior people were there
20:52and a lot of them were in the direction
20:54of, well, we have to have dialogue,
20:56we have to tell the Chinese what we want,
20:58all these kinds of things.
21:00You know, I said, you know,
21:01I don't agree with any of this.
21:03The Chinese game plan
21:05has been dialogue, dialogue, dialogue,
21:08talk, talk, talk, talk, talk,
21:10and then don't do anything at all.
21:14Lighthizer's strategy
21:14was to tax goods coming to the U.S. from China.
21:19But his plans ripped open divisions
21:21with the Wall Street faction in the White House.
21:25I wanted tariffs on as much as we can
21:28to change the economic relationship
21:30between the United States and China,
21:32to force companies to come back to the United States
21:34or to find other places to manufacture.
21:37But there was an organized group
21:40who's against tariffs.
21:43I thought there was more question
21:45to who we were hurting
21:47and who we were helping
21:48by putting tariffs on.
21:52Lighthizer started to get to the president
21:54and say,
21:55Mr. President, your voters,
21:57the people who trusted you,
22:00expect that this is going to get done.
22:03It's not getting done,
22:04not because you don't want it to get done,
22:06it's not getting done
22:07because people on your team
22:09are deliberately obstructing your order
22:12to bring China to account
22:14for what it's done to the American people
22:16for 30 years.
22:18And the president said,
22:20I'm not going to let people delay anymore.
22:24Thank you, President.
22:25Trump gave Lighthizer the green light
22:28to launch a major investigation
22:29into China's trade practices.
22:31Thank you very much, Ambassador Lighthizer.
22:34Especially claims it was forcing U.S. companies
22:37to give up blueprints
22:38for their most valuable technology.
22:41We're going to be fulfilling
22:42another campaign promise
22:44by taking firm steps
22:45to ensure that we protect
22:47the intellectual property
22:49of American companies
22:50and very importantly,
22:52of American workers.
22:53American companies were desperate
22:55to do business in China.
22:56And the Chinese would say,
22:59you can enter the Chinese market,
23:01but you have to allow us access
23:03to your proprietary technology.
23:05Well, when American companies did that,
23:07very quickly they found
23:09that that technology
23:10belonged to their Chinese partners.
23:12And then they would go flood the market
23:15with these products
23:16at a much cheaper rate,
23:18put American businesses out of business,
23:20and dominate the global supply chains.
23:25The investigation could pave the way
23:27for wide-ranging tariffs on China.
23:32Economists believe
23:33that tariffs are going to raise prices
23:35and lead to inflation.
23:37Even if you bought the idea,
23:40what's the alternative
23:42that we teach our children Chinese
23:44and tell them to prepare
23:45for a life of servitude?
23:48We have to realize
23:49there's this crisis
23:51and we have to take action to change.
23:53And if there's some small cost
23:55associated with it,
23:57the alternative is total defeat.
23:59And that's not an option.
24:05In Beijing,
24:07Xi was showing no sign
24:08of making concessions.
24:12Although China's phenomenal growth
24:14was slowing,
24:15his ambition
24:17remained resolute.
24:28In a three-hour speech
24:30to the annual party congress,
24:33he described 5,000 years
24:35of China's great imperial past
24:38before the century
24:39of humiliation
24:40that started with the opium wars
24:42of the 19th century.
24:46Before the British came
24:48to invade the opium war,
24:51I'm talking about 1820s,
24:5330s,
24:54Chinese economy
24:55is 32.5%
24:57of global GDP.
24:59When communists took over in 1949,
25:02Chinese economy
25:03less than 2%
25:04of global GDP.
25:06That is a free fall,
25:08disaster.
25:09At the time,
25:10Xi Jinping announced
25:11the China dream,
25:12we are about 12% or 15% of GDP,
25:17which means
25:17if you compare with the 1830s,
25:19we still have a lot of room there.
25:25Three weeks later,
25:27Trump arrived in Beijing
25:28for what the Chinese were calling
25:29a state visit plus.
25:33With the threat of tariffs
25:34looming large,
25:35this was a chance for Xi
25:37to win round the U.S. president.
25:41Xi want to make it
25:43as spectacular as possible
25:45for obvious reasons.
25:49Everybody knows
25:50that Trump
25:51liked spectacle.
25:55He likes, well,
25:57being treated like a king,
25:58maybe.
26:02We talked to President Trump
26:04about the images
26:05that Xi Jinping
26:06would try to create.
26:07He would try to make it seem
26:09like the leader
26:10of the free world,
26:11President Trump,
26:12was coming to Beijing
26:13to kowtow,
26:14you know,
26:14to the emperor,
26:16you know,
26:16Xi Jinping.
26:24Picture yourself
26:25as Nero,
26:27the emperor of Rome,
26:29and you want
26:30to impress somebody,
26:31what would you do?
26:33It was everything
26:35you can imagine.
26:39Everything from music
26:41to singing
26:42to dancing.
26:47They really pulled out
26:49all the stops
26:49and
26:52it was impressive.
26:55Perhaps most extraordinary,
26:57Trump was invited
26:58to dine
26:59in the Forbidden City.
27:04Forbidden City
27:05means forbidden.
27:07Historically,
27:08this is a residence
27:09of emperor.
27:12This is an extraordinary
27:15honor.
27:16Chinese are not
27:17even allowed to go.
27:19So it's quite amazing
27:21to treat Trump
27:22that way.
27:23That's something.
27:24We're having a great time.
27:27I don't believe
27:28Putin even
27:29get that treatment.
27:31Earlier that day,
27:33Xi had even given
27:34Trump a personal tour.
27:36But not everyone
27:38was welcome.
27:40As President Trump
27:41was about to be
27:42escorted through
27:43the Forbidden City,
27:45before I understood
27:46what was happening,
27:47I was diverted
27:48before I could get
27:49into the gate.
27:52Matt Ponger is like
27:53the man who knew
27:54too much.
27:55And he really would
27:56make the Chinese
27:57leadership very
27:58uncomfortable.
27:59I mean,
28:00there's a guy
28:00who's fluent in Mandarin
28:01and knew the Chinese
28:03Communist Party
28:03so well.
28:05When we get
28:05to the Forbidden City,
28:07I'm looking around,
28:08where's Matt Ponger?
28:10He's not there.
28:10The one guy
28:11who can actually
28:12speak the language
28:13and know something
28:14about this system
28:15has somehow
28:16been kept out.
28:22The imperial setting
28:23was the perfect spot
28:25for Xi to give
28:26Trump an education
28:27on China's
28:28historic place
28:29in the world.
28:30And I guess
28:31the oldest culture
28:33they say is
28:33Egypt at 8,000.
28:35the oldest culture
28:38is the oldest culture.
28:39But the culture
28:40has never been
28:41changed.
28:41It's been傳承ed
28:43only in China.
28:44But the Chinese civilization
28:45is between the
28:46Chinese So this
28:47is your
28:47original form,
28:48right? Yes.
28:49is.
28:50This is a young
28:50one.
28:51Yes.
28:52We also
28:53have the
28:53people who
28:54have black hair,
28:55black hair,
28:56black hair,
28:56black hair.
28:58We're the
28:59people
28:59Red hair, yellow skin, we call ourselves the people going down from track.
29:10She's charm offensive looked to be working
29:12as the leaders and their team sat down in the Great Hall of the People.
29:17Our meeting last night was absolutely terrific.
29:24Our dinner was beyond that.
29:27Then Trump turned to his team.
29:30The president, after the first two or three statements,
29:34asked me to address the trade issue.
29:38I didn't have a script.
29:40I didn't know for sure that I would be called on.
29:43Lighthizer is really the trade war warrior for many, many years,
29:48so Chinese know that.
29:50His basic argument is familiar,
29:52but the way he presented is quite, I would say, quite aggressive from a Chinese point of view.
30:01Lighthizer couched his presentation around their practices of forcing the transfer of intellectual property.
30:08So he just went through many of these practices with such clarity.
30:12I think it was arresting to Xi Jinping and the other officials there.
30:18I basically made the argument that we were the victim here.
30:22It wasn't China.
30:23And it can't continue and it won't continue.
30:27And I think that was a little befuddling, like, what's going on here?
30:54China was quite generous to really make all those things happen.
31:00And it shows that China is really willing to collaborate with the U.S.
31:04Dallas, the president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes and Mr. Jia Baojun.
31:08That was really a big boost for President Trump.
31:11And he really had a big harvest for his first trip to China.
31:16Donald Trump wanted to show the American people that during his visit to China,
31:21he got something for, you know, America.
31:24And this was something really tangible and right in his wheelhouse.
31:30Now Trump had his chance to talk directly to the press.
31:34I don't blame China.
31:41After all, who can blame a country for being able to take advantage of another country
31:48for the benefit of its citizens, I give China great credit.
31:55He turns to Xi Jinping and goes, for all this, I don't blame you.
31:59I blame us.
32:01But in actuality, I do blame past administrations
32:06for allowing this out-of-control trade deficit to take place and to grow.
32:12It was very Trumpian in that it was simultaneously gracious to the host,
32:16but also had a sharp edge to it.
32:19In spite of all the flattery and the rest,
32:22he was not going to back off his demands
32:24for a really significant shift in that economic relationship.
32:28When that shift did not materialize,
32:31President Trump resorted to a trade war.
32:34Here's what's on the power lunch menu.
32:36President Trump hitting China with $60 billion worth of tariffs,
32:40raising fears about a global trade war.
32:43In March 2018, Lighthizer's report was published.
32:47It says the economic harm to the U.S. of unfair trade practices
32:51on intellectual property is in the range of $50 billion.
32:54And so it plans to try to recoup some of that cost with these tariffs.
32:59Trump announced tariffs on Chinese exports,
33:02particularly those the U.S. said use stolen technology.
33:08China would respond in kind,
33:11sparking a tit-for-tat escalation that spiraled over the coming months.
33:15If they charge us, we charge them the same thing.
33:20That's the way it's got to be.
33:22Trump was smashing decades of Washington consensus on trade.
33:27Earlier that month, Gary Cohn resigned.
33:30The only thing the tariff was doing was acting as a consumption tax
33:38to the U.S. consumer that bought that good from China.
33:45I can remember talking with business leaders and investors
33:48and many folks assuring me that there's no way these tariffs could stay on more than three or four months
33:55because it would be too harmful to the U.S. economy.
33:59And I can remember telling folks that I think we're actually much more in a new normal.
34:04Just because they have a business model that works really well,
34:07that the rest of the world should just stay static so that they can benefit from that,
34:13isn't a realistic perspective to have.
34:16And that's tough to hear, particularly when you're a powerful company.
34:20You've been kind of a master of the universe, but that's the reality.
34:26Trump's team now had to face officials from Beijing.
34:30The Chinese really were taken aback.
34:33They didn't think that Trump would really go ahead with the tariffs.
34:38They had a sense for a long time that it was a bluff.
34:42You know, they had signed this $250 billion worth of deals just back in November.
34:48You know, that was a serious amount of money.
34:51And they thought, you know, they had done the necessary
34:53and didn't understand why, you know, it wasn't working.
35:01As America and China braced for what could be a costly trade war,
35:07Xi put on a show of strength.
35:10Within weeks of the tariffs being announced,
35:13he donned military fatigues to preside over a massive naval parade.
35:18The largest of its kind ever conducted by the Chinese.
35:22It took place in the South China Sea,
35:25a crucial shipping corridor where China was building artificial islands
35:29to back up its claims on the area.
35:32Claims rejected by most countries, including the U.S.
35:37He says he wants a modernized military by 2035.
35:40He wants a world-class military by 2049,
35:46which means pretty much he wants to displace the United States from the Indo-Pacific.
35:51They want to defend all the waters surrounding China
35:54and manage the trade and everything passing through them.
35:58This was China interrupting and trying to change international rules and norms
36:03that we felt that we couldn't tolerate.
36:07The situation was becoming more and more dangerous
36:09as U.S. ships and aircraft continued what they called
36:14freedom of navigation exercises.
36:38Tensions were high as world leaders arrived in Argentina
36:41for the annual G-20 summit.
36:44It would be Trump and Xi's first meeting since Beijing.
36:49The U.S. president had a new national security advisor.
36:55I thought this was obviously a significant opportunity
36:59to make points about things that concerned us
37:03about China's aggressive behavior along its periphery
37:06and talk about the big strategic issues.
37:10What Trump mostly wanted to talk about, though, was trade.
37:15By now, the U.S. had ramped up tariffs
37:18to hit $250 billion worth of Chinese goods.
37:24Trump was threatening to go even higher.
37:28But Bolton feared the prospect of a trade deal with China
37:31might soften Trump's resolve.
37:37The two leaders met for dinner on the sidelines of the summit.
37:42This was the first time I had seen them together.
37:45It was unnerving to watch Xi
37:49in a very systematic, thorough way
37:53advance what were clearly his well-thought-out objectives
37:57and to watch Trump wing it.
38:01The relationship is very special,
38:03the relationship that I have with President Xi.
38:06And I think that is going to be a very primary reason
38:09why we'll probably end up getting something.
38:13Xi had come to the meeting with a headline-grabbing pitch.
38:17If the U.S. would hold off further tariffs,
38:21China would commit to buying U.S. goods and services
38:23worth over a trillion dollars.
38:27Chinese site, for example, Walmart
38:29and other successful retailers,
38:33how they're successful because of Chinese made in China.
38:37So that is what the argument they are making,
38:40saying you might end up hurting yourself.
38:45I was worried throughout the dinner
38:47that we were basically going to agree to things.
38:49And indeed, Trump did make concessions
38:51in terms of not putting tariffs in place
38:53that he had threatened
38:55so that we could have good trade discussions with China.
39:00A truce in the trade war was agreed.
39:06But just then, news came through
39:08that had the potential to undermine any goodwill.
39:12I hear my phone ringing.
39:13I look down, and it's my colleague
39:16at the Justice Department.
39:18And I don't normally get calls
39:20from the Justice Department.
39:22And he informs me that they're going to exercise
39:25an arrest warrant against
39:26the chief financial officer of Huawei
39:28as she goes through at Vancouver Airport.
39:31I immediately think about how
39:33this is going to be interpreted
39:35as a deliberate snub
39:36and a deliberate affront
39:38to the Chinese counterparts.
39:41And how this will throw a wrench
39:44into what the president is trying to achieve.
39:46And let's get back to the big story this morning,
39:47weighing on futures with big implications
39:49for the U.S.-China trade truce and relationship.
39:51Canada has arrested the CFO of Huawei,
39:53who also happens to be the daughter
39:54of the company's founder.
39:56Meng's charges were part of a sweeping set
39:58of criminal charges by the Trump administration
40:00unveiled yesterday,
40:02accusing the company of stealing trade secrets
40:04and violating sanctions.
40:06We all hear news we were surprised
40:09because while we're shaking hands on the table,
40:12the U.S. is kicking us back under the table.
40:17We knew for some time before that Meng was coming,
40:21it was imperative that not leak out.
40:25John Bolton had been told that Meng's arrest
40:28was imminent just before the dinner with Xi.
40:31He decided not to inform Trump
40:33until it was made public.
40:36On the flight back to Washington,
40:38I explained what had happened in Canada
40:41and what would flow from that.
40:43He didn't really have much of a reaction
40:45to Meng's arrest when I briefed him on it.
40:49Officially, the Chinese government
40:51isn't directly linking Meng's arrest
40:54to the trade negotiations just yet.
40:56But unofficially in the state media,
40:58this is being seen as a political decision.
41:06Trump had a Christmas dinner in the East Room
41:08for his top White House staff.
41:11And at one point, out of nowhere, he said,
41:15by the way, why did we arrest Meng,
41:17the Ivanka Trump of China?
41:20I thought maybe first I would say,
41:22you didn't tell me that Ivanka was a spy
41:25and an agent of our government,
41:27but I didn't, fortunately for me, probably.
41:32Telecom's giant Huawei was a shining example
41:36of Xi's vision for China
41:37to dominate technologies of the future.
41:40It had become a battleground with the Americans
41:43who placed restrictions on the company,
41:46citing fears China could use its equipment for spying.
41:50Meng's high-profile arrest only raised the tensions.
41:55Meng's high-profile arrest only raised the tensions.
42:14With relations between the superpowers deteriorating,
42:17other countries were finding themselves caught in the crossfire,
42:21and not just over Huawei.
42:24The British Chancellor got a taste of this
42:27when he addressed that year's Belt and Road Forum.
42:31The speech lauded the scale and ambition of the project
42:36and the Chinese delivery of it,
42:38but said explicitly that if this is going to work,
42:41it's got to be very careful about the debt burdens
42:44that recipient countries are taking on.
42:48I was invited to the heads of state lunch,
42:52which was hosted by President Xi,
42:54and he just lashed into me,
42:57saying this was none of my business
42:59and the Belt and Road was China's project
43:03and China would run it in the way that China chose to run it.
43:07So it was quite a moment
43:09being given a finger-wagging lecture by President Xi.
43:16Returning to London,
43:18Hammond would find that the fallout wasn't over.
43:22So I get a call from the White House.
43:25I get the Deputy National Security Advisor on the phone,
43:29and he says,
43:31we'd like to talk to you about your speech.
43:33We had seen a speech that
43:35Philip Hammond had just delivered
43:37that it appeared to be an endorsement
43:40of China's debt-trap diplomacy.
43:43So it was a bit cheeky,
43:45but one of my colleagues from the State Department
43:47printed out Hammond's speech on a poster board
43:51with some of the key phrases
43:53that looked like they'd been taken straight
43:56from Beijing's propaganda highlighted.
43:59A meeting was set up,
44:01and somebody came over
44:02and arrived in my office in number 11.
44:05He laid them out in my office in Downing Street
44:11along the wall
44:12so that all the text of the speech was there.
44:15And I was asked by the Americans
44:16to justify the...
44:20to explain my thinking
44:23behind the less critical parts of that speech.
44:27I'd said from the outset,
44:30the UK cannot be in a position
44:33of having to choose
44:34between the world's largest economy
44:36and the world's second-largest economy.
44:38And that was what I told the Americans.
44:41The response I got was,
44:43that is exactly what the President
44:45of the United States wants you to do.
44:48He wants you to choose,
44:49and he wants you to choose America.
44:56Trump now ramped up the pressure even more.
44:59He signed an executive order
45:01preparing the ground for a total ban
45:03of Huawei equipment in U.S. systems.
45:07And the Americans set to work
45:09persuading other countries to follow suit,
45:12beginning with their closest ally.
45:17We had to start with the UK
45:19because in many ways,
45:20the UK's position
45:22as sort of a cyber security
45:23and telecommunications power, GCHQ,
45:26is seen as sort of world class.
45:28And that was allowing, you know,
45:31everybody else to essentially point to and say,
45:33well, GCHQ says it's okay.
45:34So why are you, America,
45:36making a big deal about this?
45:42The position of the British government
45:44was very strongly against
45:46making any significant changes to Huawei.
45:50And we met with a lot of resistance.
45:52Philip Hammond, the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
45:54and others were very strong on that.
45:59The message from the White House
46:01was we want Huawei out.
46:04Get it out and tell these Europeans
46:06that they've got to toe the line.
46:09The Chinese had made this a totemic issue
46:13that if we cut Huawei off,
46:15there would be significant trade
46:18and other consequences.
46:21So we're very much squeezed in the middle.
46:26As Trump arrived for a long-promised state visit,
46:30the Brits hoped to convince the Americans
46:32that they could keep Huawei
46:34out of the most sensitive parts
46:36of their network.
46:39Our security experts essentially said
46:41we've engineered the systems
46:42in a way that the Americans
46:44are overstating the risk.
46:47We had very deep concerns
46:50and plenty of evidence
46:52that there were back doors,
46:54there were software and hardware vulnerabilities
46:57that would make it fairly easy
46:59for data to be siphoned out of those networks.
47:04They thought they could protect
47:06telecommunications in Britain,
47:07and we simply didn't agree with that.
47:10There was this tension
47:11between our security experts.
47:14Ours were clear.
47:15That we could manage any risk from Huawei.
47:19It was never in the core of our infrastructure,
47:21only in the periphery.
47:23And they didn't agree.
47:25Our main point is
47:27that this is not a technical discussion.
47:30This is a policy discussion, right?
47:32We felt that they simply did not want
47:34to re-examine the decision
47:36because changing their decision
47:39that they had made before
47:40would likely entail retaliation by Beijing.
47:45We explained to Trump how our network
47:47was configured differently
47:49from the American network,
47:51that we were very confident
47:52that what we had was a robust system,
47:55but he was not listening.
47:57In fact, most of the time
47:59when you engaged with the president,
48:01there was no sense
48:02that he was actually listening
48:04to what anybody else was saying.
48:05He was simply preparing
48:07for the next sentence
48:09that he was going to say.
48:12We said to each other
48:13that this is a foretaste, Huawei.
48:15We're going to be here
48:16a lot in the future.
48:18We're going to find plenty of issues
48:20where the Chinese are squeezing us
48:22from one side
48:22and the Americans from the other.
48:24Not just the UK,
48:25but all the middle-ranking powers.
48:31The Brits stood firm on Huawei
48:33for now.
48:35It was some of Trump's aides
48:37who worried their boss
48:38might not stick to his guns.
48:42I felt that it was important
48:45to impress on Trump
48:46that if we were going to take
48:47strong measures against Huawei,
48:49this was not something
48:50to give away later.
48:52This had to be the beginning
48:53of a strong and consistent policy
48:56because to Trump,
48:58everything is negotiable.
49:00Everything is a bargaining chip.
49:04While Trump was in the UK,
49:07in Hong Kong,
49:08thousands joined a vigil
49:10to mark 30 years
49:11since China's deadly crackdown
49:13on pro-democracy protesters
49:14in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.
49:18The vigil took place
49:20in the midst of a growing wave
49:21of protests
49:22against a new law
49:23that would make extradition
49:24to mainland China easier.
49:28Normally,
49:28every fifth anniversary
49:30of Tiananmen,
49:31the White House
49:32would put out a statement
49:33on behalf of the president.
49:34And I had given Trump
49:37a draft statement
49:38that would commemorate
49:40the 30th anniversary.
49:41And Trump said,
49:42I'm not going to put it out.
49:43And I said,
49:44but we always put it out
49:46every five years.
49:47And if you don't put it out,
49:48it will look like
49:49we're not concerned
49:50about what happened
49:51to Tiananmen
49:52or what it represents
49:52for the future of China
49:54and Hong Kong.
49:55And he said,
49:56I don't care.
49:58Trump sees international relations
50:00through the prism
50:01of his personal relations.
50:03He thought Xi would
50:04take offense
50:05if we put out a statement
50:06by the president
50:07on Tiananmen,
50:09and he wasn't going to do it.
50:12within weeks,
50:13as the protests
50:14in Hong Kong grew,
50:16the authorities responded
50:17with brutal force.
50:25It was against this backdrop
50:27that Trump would next meet Xi
50:28at that year's G20 summit.
50:37The U.S. president
50:38was facing further calls
50:40to confront him
50:41about Hong Kong
50:41and China's
50:42wider human rights record,
50:44including the treatment
50:45of Uyghur Muslims
50:46in Xinjiang.
50:48As he landed,
50:49he took a call
50:50from the Speaker
50:51of the House.
50:54He said,
50:54well,
50:55since you're at the G20,
50:56you're in Asia,
50:57isn't it remarkable
50:58what's happening
50:59in Hong Kong?
51:01Millions of people
51:02are in the streets
51:03demonstrating
51:04for democracy.
51:07I'm sure G20
51:08won't say anything
51:09about that
51:10because she is there.
51:13But I think
51:14it would be great
51:14if you could say
51:15something to him
51:16that the House
51:18and the Senate,
51:19Democrats and Republicans,
51:22have voted
51:23in favor of the Uyghurs.
51:27There's always
51:28a summit dinner
51:29at these G20 summits
51:31and typically
51:32it's just the leader
51:33of each country
51:34and their spouse
51:35if they're there.
51:37One of my staff
51:38talked to the U.S. interpreter
51:41who was with Trump
51:42who reported
51:43that he had a conversation
51:44with Xi Jinping
51:46and talked about
51:47the Uyghurs
51:47and Xi defended
51:49against charges
51:51that these are essentially
51:52concentration camps.
51:53And he said
51:54the Uyghurs
51:55appreciated it.
51:56They liked it.
51:57It was a good thing to do.
51:58And Trump basically said
51:59well then go ahead
52:00and do it.
52:03Next day
52:04he calls me back
52:05and he said
52:06I mentioned Muslims
52:08to President Xi
52:10and he said
52:11they like being
52:12in those labor camps.
52:19China's record
52:20on human rights
52:21was never going
52:21to be top
52:22of Trump's agenda.
52:24trade negotiations
52:26had ground
52:26to a halt
52:27and election year
52:28was fast approaching.
52:30A trade deal
52:31with China
52:32could be a vote winner
52:33in the manufacturing
52:34and agricultural
52:35heartlands
52:36of America.
52:38You know
52:38we've had a
52:40excellent relationship
52:41but we
52:42want to do something
52:44that will even it up
52:46with respect to trade.
52:47I think it's something
52:48that's actually
52:49very easy to do.
52:51Trump basically said to Xi
52:53look I want to win this election
52:54and I need the farmers vote
52:56and you can help me out on that.
52:59And indeed
53:00the trade negotiation
53:01then turned into
53:02how many tons of soybeans
53:04are they going to buy
53:05next year.
53:06at that point
53:09the trade
53:09is mostly
53:10focused on
53:11Chinese buying things
53:13okay
53:13on a massive scale.
53:30Xi Jinping had great skill
53:32in flattering Trump
53:33and Trump responded
53:35as he
53:36as he often did
53:37with flattery
53:38of his own.
53:40So
53:40he
53:41took to calling
53:43Xi king
53:44and
53:45in Osaka
53:46it got even worse
53:47he told him
53:48at one point
53:49you're
53:49you're the greatest leader
53:51in contemporary
53:52Chinese history
53:53and 30 seconds later
53:54he said
53:54you're the greatest leader
53:55in all of Chinese history.
53:57So we waited
53:58to see how Xi
53:59would respond to Trump
54:02but he didn't call him
54:04the greatest leader
54:04in all American history
54:06he just pocketed it
54:07and
54:07and the conversation
54:08went on.
54:19At home
54:20Xi appeared
54:21more powerful
54:22than ever.
54:23Later that year
54:25he took center stage
54:26as the Chinese
54:27Communist Party
54:28celebrated
54:2970 years of rule
54:30in China
54:32a statement of power
54:34in the face
54:35of the Hong Kong protests.
54:37Today
54:38the socialist socialist
54:41is still
54:42in the Middle East
54:45and there is no power
54:47to prevent
54:49the Chinese
54:51and the Chinese
54:53of the Chinese
54:53of the Chinese
54:54of the Chinese
54:54and the Chinese
54:55of the Chinese
54:55of the Chinese
54:59Unlike Trump
55:00Xi didn't have to worry
55:02about elections.
55:05In fact
55:06China had abolished
55:08term limits
55:08meaning
55:09he could now remain
55:10president for life.
55:14And when it came
55:15to negotiating
55:16with Trump
55:17the Chinese
55:18were increasingly
55:18confident
55:19that by playing
55:20the long game
55:21they would ultimately
55:22win out.
55:24China understood
55:26Trump's way
55:27of operating
55:28as a professional
55:30wrestler.
55:32Start opening
55:33saw bow
55:34is always
55:34outrageous
55:36frightening.
55:38If you chicken out
55:40then he will
55:41push even more.
55:42If you stand
55:43if you know
55:44you have capacity
55:45to stand up
55:46he will come down.
55:49While Xi was
55:50parading his
55:51military might
55:51his negotiators
55:53were putting
55:54the final touches
55:55to a trade deal
55:56with Trump.
55:57It was optimistically
55:59named
55:59the phase one
56:00agreement.
56:02Trump would sign
56:03it with China's
56:03vice premier
56:04to much
56:05firmfare.
56:06The US agreed
56:08to ease
56:08tariffs on China.
56:11In return
56:12China pledged
56:13to buy hundreds
56:14of billions
56:14of dollars
56:15of US goods.
56:17But Trump
56:18didn't get
56:18the major
56:19concessions
56:20on China's
56:20trade practices
56:21he talked about
56:22on coming
56:23to office.
56:24It's a relief
56:25from Chinese
56:26side
56:26because we
56:27had a very
56:28we have a
56:29tension
56:29you know
56:31and January
56:322020
56:32it's less than
56:33one year ahead
56:34of the
56:34general election.
56:36We believe
56:36we would have
56:37a relatively
56:38stable
56:38bilateral
56:39relations
56:40in that year
56:40and if
56:41President Trump
56:42won the election
56:43paved the way
56:44for the second
56:44term.
56:48It's important
56:49to remind
56:49yourself that
56:50it's not
56:51possible
56:52to have
56:53an agreement
56:55between the
56:56United States
56:56and China
56:57that's going
56:58to resolve
56:58the problem
56:59of a Marxist
57:00Leninist country
57:01that wants
57:01to be the
57:02number one
57:02country in the
57:03world.
57:03It's like
57:04you can't
57:05imagine an
57:06agreement
57:06between the
57:07United States
57:07or the West
57:09and Soviet
57:09Union
57:10that would
57:11have resolved
57:11the fact
57:12that they
57:12want to
57:13take over
57:13the world
57:13and we
57:14don't want
57:14them to
57:14right?
57:15Today we
57:16take a
57:17momentous
57:18step
57:19one that
57:19has never
57:20been taken
57:20before with
57:21China.
57:22But what
57:22these agreements
57:23can do
57:23is stop
57:24movement
57:24towards a
57:25hot war
57:25which would
57:26be a
57:26catastrophe.
57:28Nobody's
57:28ever seen
57:29anything like
57:29it.
57:29This is
57:30the biggest
57:30deal there
57:31is anywhere
57:32in the world
57:32by far.
57:34Trump
57:35had his
57:35deal
57:37but as
57:37he talked
57:38it up
57:38the world
57:39was about
57:39to be hit
57:40by a
57:40catastrophe
57:41that few
57:41saw coming.
57:43One that
57:43would bring
57:44the US
57:44and China
57:45closer than
57:46ever to
57:46a new
57:47cold war.
57:50China
57:51plague.
57:52That's
57:52where it
57:52comes from.
57:53They say
57:53please don't
57:54mention
57:54China.
57:55I say
57:55why?
57:55That's
57:56where it
57:56comes
57:56from.
57:58I remember
57:58President
57:59Trump
57:59telling me
58:00that if
58:00he did
58:01100
58:01trade
58:02deals
58:02with
58:03China
58:04it still
58:05wouldn't
58:05make up
58:06for the
58:06losses
58:07that
58:08COVID
58:08can
58:08inflict
58:09it
58:09on
58:09the
58:09United
58:09States.
58:10In the
58:11next
58:11episode
58:13as a
58:14global
58:14pandemic
58:15rocks
58:15the
58:15US-China
58:16relationship
58:17the
58:17race
58:18for
58:18technological
58:18supremacy
58:19ramps up
58:22and the
58:23stakes
58:23are raised
58:24as one
58:24of
58:24America's
58:25leading
58:25figures
58:26crosses
58:27a
58:27Chinese
58:28red
58:28line.
58:29You
58:29have to
58:30understand
58:30whether
58:30it's
58:30going to
58:31Tiananmen
58:31Square
58:31or going
58:32to Taiwan
58:33you
58:34cannot
58:34let
58:35somebody
58:36else
58:36decide
58:37where
58:38you're
58:38going.
58:39This
58:40is the
58:40closest
58:41moment
58:41of a
58:42military
58:42encounter.
58:45My
58:45understanding
58:46is that
58:4620%
58:47of the
58:47Chinese
58:47did not
58:48sleep
58:48at that
58:48night.
58:50She's
58:50going to
58:50tell us
58:51where we
58:51can go?
58:52I don't
58:53think so.
58:57And you
58:58can watch
58:58the next
58:59episode
58:59right now
59:00on BBC
59:01iPlayer.
59:02Also
59:02there,
59:03AI
59:03Confidential
59:04with
59:04Hannah
59:05Fry,
59:05extraordinary
59:06human
59:07stories from
59:07the high
59:08tech
59:08frontier.
59:09Watch
59:10now.
59:10Inside a
59:11publishing
59:11scandal
59:12with a
59:12new
59:13podcast
59:13on
59:14sounds,
59:15Secrets
59:15of the
59:15Salt
59:16Path.
59:16Listen
59:17now.
59:24Listen
59:24to
59:24Listen
59:24to
59:24have
59:24lives
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