Expert warns Trump's China strategy could spark catastrophic conflict

Robert D. Kaplan, a veteran foreign-policy writer, warns that President Trump's handling of China is the most perilous mistake since the Iran and Iraq wars. He says the United States has a history of misunderstanding Beijing, and one outlet administration’s explicit stance on Taiwan breaks the long-standing diplomatic ambiguity established by the 1972 Shanghai Communiqué. Kaplan notes that both China’s assertive leadership under Xi Jinping and the United States’ volatile Asia-Pacific rhetoric are pushing the region toward conflict.

He adds that competition over artificial-intelligence regulation further strains relations. According to Kaplan, a war in the Western Pacific would disrupt essential supply chains and could be as consequential as World War I, posing an existential threat to the United States.