How 'America First' Policies Are Pushing Nations Towards China

Inside China, there's a nickname for US President Donald Trump that tells you everything you need to know about how his actions are increasingly seen as a gift to Beijing. They call him Chuan Jianguo, which translates to Chinese "nation builder" — a mocking title that suggests the US president's foreign and domestic policies are driving countries away from Washington and pushing them into the embrace of China. Trump has been openly vocal about the fact that his America-first attitudes towards Venezuela — and Greenland — are to counter so-called threats from China and Russia. And while he insists his actions are justified, including bombings and imposing tariffs on several European countries that have disagreed with him, they are proving to be uncomfortable for some traditional US allies. It's little surprise then that several countries are now recalibrating their relationship with America and, in some cases, drifting closer towards its biggest competitor. China courts Canada, EU Last week, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney made a landmark visit to Beijing — the first by a Canadian leader in almost a decade. Political commentators noted the overarching objective of the snap visit was to reset and recalibrate relations with China, after years of a trade and geopolitical deep freeze. And it worked — after days of meetings, the two countries' leaders announced thousands of Chinese electric vehicles would be allowed into Canada and made a pledge to reduce tariffs on key industries. But it's the language of the trip that has revealed a deeper shift in the global order away from the US, and in China's favour. Carney said Canada's relationship with China had become "more predictable" than with the US. It was a striking admission and marked a serious U-turn for the PM, who less than a year ago declared Beijing was Canada's biggest security threat. Relations between China and Canada had been in turmoil since 2018, after Canada arrested an executive from Chinese telecommunication giant Huawei, at the request of the US. In retaliation, Beijing then imprisoned two Canadian citizens. Now, after just one visit to Beijing, Carney has suggested that the burgeoning relationship between the two countries is setting up a "new world order" — something China is desperate to achieve, and the US is desperate to avoid. At the World Economic Forum on Tuesday, local time, Carney added the "rules-based order was fading" and was not coming back. "Middle powers like Canada, are not powerless. They have the capacity to build a new order that embodies our values, like respect for human rights, sustainable development, solidarity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of states," he said. Canada's leader is just the latest foreign dignitary to visit China or announce plans to travel there. Last month, French President Emmanuel Macron was given a lavish reception in China, as Beijing tried capitalise on an opening wound between Europe and the US. Irish Prime Minister Michael Martin also touched down in Beijing in December, the country's leader to travel there in more than a decade, in a further sign of China shoring up its ties with the EU. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz are also set to visit China in the next few weeks. US favourability in decline The common thread tying the trips together is a growing acceptance that governments don't want to be freezing out China at a time when traditional US alliances are looking increasingly unstable. An analysis of recent Washington manoeuvring by US-based think-tank Brookings Institution concluded a common perspective among many foreign governments was that their view of the US was declining. "Favourability toward the United States has declined sharply among allies, while perceptions of China's economic influence have risen," it said. And it's not just world powers, but regular citizens, who are also shifting their perceptions around China and the US. For the US, it's not good news. A recently released worldwide study by the European Council on Foreign Relations found more and more of the global community now viewed Beijing as an ally or necessary partner. And when it comes to the US, in most countries, expectations of Trump are now lower than 12 months ago. "Even before Trump's dramatic intervention in Venezuela, his aggressive 'America First' approach was driving people closer to China," the study concluded. "Paradoxically, his disavowal of the liberal international order may have given people license to build stronger links to Beijing, since they no longer feel the need to fall in line with a US-led alliance system. "America's traditional enemies fear it less than they once did — while allies now worry about falling victim to a predatory US." A changing world order While the world now appears to be more open to China, many leaders would still be wary of pinning their alliances purely to another global superpower. History has shown Beijing has its own mechanisms to weaponise its economic supremacy, and leave trade partners in financial turmoil, should relations suddenly sour. But judging on recent months, China's global vision of a multi-polar world order is being realised, perhaps quicker than it expected. And behind the scenes, Beijing will quietly be thanking Trump — the man they call China's nation builder.