The west integrated China into the world through Opium War in 1840 with a series of unequal treaties. Since China was integrated into the world dominated by the western powers, China suffered a century of humiliation. It was a hundred years of wars, chaos, famines, and refugees. In 1949, Mao said to the west that please treat Chinese people as equals, please. The west refused Mao's term and imposed sanctions and blockade on China. The US supported Chiang to recover China from Taiwan. The US sent the seventh fleet to the Taiwan strait before it land the Korean peninsular leading armies of 16 countries pushing all to way to the Yalu River and beyond. The US considered they lost China in 1949 and always want to integrate China into the world by dominating China and treating Chinese people as labor resources without basic human dignity. Mao did not against participating in the world economy but insisted to do so equally. Even today, all China request is mutual respect and mutual benefit. The US is reluctant to accept the relationship that gives Chinese people an equal position in the world. The US was defeated in Korean War by Mao and defeated again in Vietnam War.
Nixon visit Mao and ask for help for the US to withdraw from the quagmire of the Vietnam War, due to the fact that the Soviet was ahead of the US in space technology. Once the Soviets collapsed, the US want to isolate China again, until the Twin Towers were hit by terrorists. Because the US began the war on terrorists, it granted access to WTO to China after 15 years of marathon negotiation.
Since 2009, after Obama initiated the Asia pivot, later named as rebalance of Asia Pacific, the US has done all it could to integrate China into the world and refuse to give China an equal status in international politics. The US even refuse to honor the term negotiated with China that after 15 years, China should automatically have the status of the market economy.
The US is dreaming the dream of the Opium War to dominate China again and integrate it into the world. China is the source of wealth in the world economy, and the US wants to dominate it.
The US wants a world where China creates wealth and the US distributes the wealth and put America first in cutting the cake. China, on the other hand, would like to safeguard the share of the cake it created with the hard-working of the Chinese people. The trade war with China by Trump is one of the strategies for this purpose.
