It’s weird to me that any China hawks think Trump is “tough on China”. He might be rhetorically aggressive in a way previous US presidents have not been, but “tough”? If anything, he’s proven the exact opposite.

He started a trade war which he lost comprehensively, but it’s the way he lost that is most concerning. Accepting ineffective concessions when politically expedient showed motivation by self-interest over anything to do with international politics or trade.

He deliberately weakened the traditional alliances that have stood as a united front against geopolitical shifts. He hung allies like Australia out to dry on China relations, again for domestic political purposes.

His ineffective response to coronavirus has dramatically weakened the US economy, its best asset defending against China's rise. If the US couldn’t win a trade war with China a year ago it has little chance now.

China knows this, and Trump’s domestic focus has shown China that a Trump US is all about itself. As a result it’s gone about its activities in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and HK in a way that would have been unthinkable 4 years ago, and with barely a whisper from the White House.

Does anyone truly think that the US is in a stronger position in relation to China than it was 4 years ago? Of course not. And that's why this whole "Trump is tough on China" thing is so very strange.