Xi Vs Trump: Why US relations with China will get worse in 2018

Ever since Xi has taken over, China has been more assertively pushing its foreign goals

2018 could be a portentous year for China. Its principal relationship – that with the United States – is on a cusp. Things could get better, but more likely they will get worse. The Trump administration’s retreat from the world has just enlarged China’s strategic opportunity. Such circumstances are not the most propitious for international relations.

1. Internally, the trend of the Communist Party of China (CPC) reasserting its control over the state and society is likely to intensify. As Xi Jinping told the 19th