China is reportedly befuddled — but not fooled — by Trump

President Trump fancies himself an elite negotiator, but his twists and turns apparently don't catch his counterparts in Beijing off guard anymore, The Washington Post reports. Beijing does, however, seem to be suffering from some "fatigue" from the whole thing.

"The more they deal with him, the more they figure him out," Wang Huiyao, president of the Center for China and Globalization and an adviser to China's cabinet, said. He wasn't alone in thinking that, either.

Arthur Kroeber, the managing director of GaveKal Dragonomics, a consultancy in Beijing, said China believes it "can afford to wait Trump out," while Wei Jianguo, a former vice minister of commerce, said that Trump is "dreaming" if he thinks he can wear China down in negotiations.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

But the preparedness can only go so far, and it reportedly doesn't have many people in Beijing thinking they're any closer to reaching a deal. Bloomberg reports that only a few negotiators see an agreement as a real possibility before the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as Trump's style has made a "quick resolution nearly impossible." Ultimately, the trade dispute needs to be "resolved through dialogue and consultations," China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Tuesday.

Yao Xinchao, a trade professor at the University of International Business and Economics put it bluntly. "He's a 70-ish-year-old man but speaks like a seven-year-old kid," he said, referring to Trump. "We just can't listen to what he says now." Read more at The Washington Post and Bloomberg.