Trade and leverage will be two big issues between the United States and China going forward, a Fox News Radio reporter said recently on a Chicago radio show.
Fox News Radio reporter Jon Decker said during an Nov. 9 interview on "Chicago's Morning Answer" on WIND that the two countries have a complicated relationship, but President Donald Trump was hoping to use his friendly connections to work on those issues. Decker called in to the show from South Korea, where he was covering that part of Trump's recent swing through Asia.
"Chicago Morning Answer" is co-hosted by Dan Proft, who is a principal of Local Government Information Services, which owns this publication.
Decker said Trump has a good relationship with China President Xi Jinping, which Trump wanted to use to apply leverage on North Korea, a country viewed as a threat by the United States and other national because of its its nuclear capability.
“Ninety percent of North Korea's trade is with China, so China certainly has the leverage,” Decker said.
In an audio clip played prior to Decker's interview, Trump said that the United States and its allies in the region had agreed not to attempt approaches that failed in the past to dealing with North Korea.
“Together, we have in our power to finally liberate this region and the world from this very serious nuclear menace,” Trump said. “But it will require collective action, collective strength and collective devotion to winning the peace.”
The other issue – trade – centers on the deficit between U.S. exports to China compared to imports. The U.S deficit in trade with China was $33.6 billion in July, Reuters reported.
“The president would like to lower that huge trade imbalance that exists between the U.S. and China,” Decker said.
Trump, in another audio clip, said he did not blame China for its role in the situation.
“After all, who can blame a country for being able to take advantage of another country for the benefit of its citizens?” he said.
Trump's comment drew the ire of co-host Bruce Wolf, who called it ridiculous.
“It's still a communist government,” Wolf said. “He's all over the place. He always is.”
Show co-host Amy Jacobson briefly brought up that Trump had criticized China while he was campaigning for president last year before saying that Trump had been given the red-carpet treatment on the trip.
Decker also talked about how Trump was received on the Asia trip to that point, saying that the president had been praised and received warmly. Decker cited a newspaper in South Korea that lauded a speech Trump made before that country's national assembly.
“I was at that speech,” Decker said. “It was well received, and I thought it was well delivered.”
Trump also was getting a good reaction in South Korea for his approach toward North Korea leader Kim Jong Un and is reaching out to other leaders, Decker said, adding that Trump has a good relationship with Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as well.
“The president certainly is taking advantage of these good relations that he has with his counterparts in this part of the world,” Decker said.
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