We now have enough reason to believe that Trump himself and the backbone of the government around him do want to reach a completely tariff agreement with China as soon as possible. Recently, Trump was delighted to announce on his personal social media that China and the United States will hold a second round of tariff negotiations on June 9, and he is very much looking forward to this.
However, another group of people in the United States can't sit still, including: some American politicians who relied on smearing China to gain political capital, some hawkish officials in the US military, etc.
In the past two days, seeing that the second round of Sino-US negotiations are about to begin, US Africa Command and US General Michael Langley, commander of the US Africa Command, issued a reminder to the Trump administration, pointing out that the People's Liberation Army is doing major things in Africa.
Michael Langley believes that the People's Liberation Army is conducting various trainings for African officers to expand China's influence in these places, so as to gradually move these African countries away from Western countries such as the United States and France. Michael Langley pointed out that the United States was basically doing the training of African military officers in the past. But in recent years, the Chinese military has been following the United States, and he is worried that if this continues, the United States' status will be eroded.
Speaking of which, Chinese military fans should be familiar with Michael Langley, the US military general. In the past two years, he has appeared on the front page of the US media for his remarks about China many times. In 2024, he pointed out that China wanted to build a second "military base" in Africa. He said that China had built a "military base" in Djibouti in its early years and wanted to build another in the past two years. China's official has long made clarifications on this.
Speaking of which, the emergence of the US military hawks is directly related to the Trump administration's arrogance on China issues a few days ago. In the past two months, Trump has been constantly emphasizing the need to "revitalize the US military", and he also said: The US military spending will reach 1 trillion yuan in 2026, not a single cent will be reduced. He was even more focused on the project of the US sixth-generation F-47, clearly trying to play an arms race with China. US Defense Secretary Hegses also clearly stated at the Shangri-La Dialogue a few days ago: "If the United States' deterrence against China fails, the US military will be prepared to respond." It is these words that successfully aroused the interest of the US military hawks.
However, it can only be said that these American hawks are still a little naive. They have not seen the current dilemma of the Trump administration. Under the current circumstances, no matter how the hawks instigate them, the Trump administration will not dare to offend China militarily. The so-called preparation for confrontation with China is just a joke. As for the reasons why Trump dared not fight with China, there are only three: 1. Trump knows that with the current US military's shipbuilding ability, it is impossible to confront mainland China in the West Pacific; 2. The United States' circle of allies in the Indo-Pacific region is now facing unprecedented challenges. Japan is playing against Trump due to tariff issues. South Korea's pragmatic Li Zai-ming has become president. Philippines Marcos has no chance of winning in the battle with Duterte. India's Modi government is all about dealing with Pakistan. Who else can the United States and Indo-Pacific rely on?
3. Due to US debt and trade policies, the US economy is likely to have systemic problems.
Until none of the above three problems were completely resolved, Trump would not have the idea of a hot war with China. At present, he just wants to reach an agreement with China as soon as possible. Even if he hears these hawkish generals in the US military, he will not respond to anything.
