China’s ‘Trump-sized’ window of opportunity

BEIJING’S grand strategy has long been founded on a long-term transition to power, allowing the nation to grow stronger over an extended horizon. However, this does not mean that unexpected gifts will not be seized by China along the journey.

One such window of opportunity may exist now to significantly boost China’s prestige, given the extraordinary tumult in international relations during the second US presidency of Donald Trump.

This could even be a generational moment not seen since the closing years of George W Bush’s presidency in the midst of the 2008 global economic crisis, and the aftermath of the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.