Second opinion

18 December 2017 By Gina Chon Follow @GinaChon

The U.S. president is casting Beijing’s economic prowess as a national security threat. It may signal coming tariffs related to intellectual property and other issues. Yet aides say they also need China’s help on North Korea. Increasing tensions just makes that more difficult.

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U.S. President Donald Trump will give a speech on Dec. 18 on his administration’s national security strategy. The plan identifies four areas of national interest: protecting the homeland, promoting American prosperity, preserving peace through strength and advancing American influence, senior administration officials said on Dec. 17. As part of that outlook, the strategy outlines three major groups of challengers: revisionist powers like China and Russia, rogue regimes and transnational threat organizations.

In the White House strategy paper on the matter, China is recognized as a strategic competitor and unfair trading partner, the officials said. For example, China is seen as a challenger when it comes to the U.S. national security innovation base, which includes theft of intellectual property. Trump administration officials say they will work to ensure the protection of data and research and development and update the parameters of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

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