U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's proposed anti-terrorism policy could smoothen China-U.S. ties, but the U.S. "double standard" on its definition of terrorism may still hinder cooperation, analysts said.
Trump outlined his anti-terror-themed foreign policy on Monday, proposing that any country which shares the goal of fighting "radical Islamic terrorism" will be deemed a U.S. ally, USA Today reported.
Trump also said on Monday that his administration will "aggressively pursue joint and coalition military operations to crush and destroy ISIS, international cooperation to cut off their funding, expand intelligence sharing, and use cyber warfare to disrupt and disable their propaganda and recruiting."
"Trump's foreign policy, which centers around fighting what he calls 'radical Islamic terrorism,' will to some extent ease the current sour China-U.S. ties," Liu Weidong, a researcher at the Institute of American Studies of the China Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.
"China and the U.S. share a lot in common on fighting terrorism and Trump's policy seems to shift from the present focus on competition between major powers, which mainly targets China to anti-terrorism, " Xin Qiang, deputy director of the Center for U.S. Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times.
However, it appears impossible for the U.S. to give up its "double standard" in defining terrorism at home and abroad for political reasons, which may cast a shadow on sharing terror-related intelligence with China, said Liu.
Liu also said political divisions in the U.S. Congress will not subside if Trump wins in November, and he will face grave challenges and resistance from political opponents and may not fully implement his policy.
Trump promised to introduce extreme ideological vetting for all immigrants and visitors to the U.S. to fight "radical Islamic terrorism," and to temporarily suspend immigration from areas that have a "history of exporting terrorism."
Liu and Xin both agreed that Trump's immigration policy will have little to do with China.
