It was in February 1972 that President Richard Nixon became the first American president to visit the People's Republic of China. The unexpected week-long visit took place between two nations with strong ideological differences but with a common enemy: the Soviet Union. After the visit, the US President commented on his trip to China:

"It was the week that changed the world, because what we said in the communiqué is not at all as important as what we will do in the coming years to build a bridge over the 16,000 miles and 22 years of enmity that have separated us until now. and what we have said today is that we want to build that bridge. ”

A realpolitik alliance

The reorientation between the two antagonistic great powers has been described as a realpolitik alliance, where ideology ended up in the second room.

Despite frosty relations in connection with the massacre of students in Tiananmen Square in 1989, relations between the United States and China continued to develop. China's economic reform program focusing on the market economy was a contributing factor. In 2001, China joined the World Trade Organization with the support of the United States.

Threats, flattery and accusations

China's economic development did not only mean increased trade relations. They also led to a rivalry in the field of trade. In President Trump's election campaign, the threat from China's economy and promises of trade measures against China played a prominent role. Trump's policy toward China after the election may seem contradictory, alternately marked by threats, alternately by flattery followed by new threats and accusations.

A trade war involving tariffs on imports from each country began after the United States imposed restrictions on imports of Chinese goods at the beginning of Trump's term. The skirmishes ended in a trade agreement in early 2020.

That agreement was followed by the corona pandemic, which led Trump to accuse China of mismanaging the pandemic and indirectly behind the health and economic problems that followed in the pandemic's footsteps.

In April, Trump's sacked security adviser John Bolton claimed that in 2019 Trump sought the support of Chinese leader XI Jinping to be re-elected in 2020. He is also said to have encouraged China's heavily criticized detention and "retraining camps" in the Muslim-dominated Chinese province of Xinjiang.

In June this year, the United States sharpened its tone against China again: now because of China's handling of Hong Kong and also because of the situation of the Muslim Uighurs in China.

Today, when Trump's shares are at an all-time low ahead of the November election, US-China sentiment is described as the worst in decades. Some observers speak of the Cold War moods.