Hardball Diplomacy: Why Trump's Show of Force Leaves Beijing Unimpressed

... will likely raise the stakes by providing an additional economic lifeline to Pyongyang," the Malaysian analyst suggested. "Even if Trump had promised a quid pro quo in terms of tacit US recognition over Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea, it won't go down well with US-friendly nations in ASEAN. Furthermore, no one would trust a US president who will attack a nation just days after proffering rapprochement, as was the case with Syria," he noted. Indeed, a few days before the Pentagon's missile strike against Syria, the Trump administration signaled that the topping of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was by no means the White House's priority. "There ...