U.S. President Donald Trump has kept his word. He claims not to have started any new war. And it's true if you discount a few targeted strikes, which didn't produce serious counterstrikes, at least till now. And he is pulling U.S. troops out of combat zones as well as some NATO countries. 

Although many think the Trump administration's recent foreign policy has brought the U.S. closer to starting new wars, it is still fair to argue that this administration, so far, has not got the U.S. into any real hot war. There is muscle-flexing, intimidation, and coercion but it is more symbolic than actual.

Perhaps one of the reasons is that the administration has shifted its strategic focus from all other issues to anti-China.

From launching a trade war to instigating a media confrontation, from illegally initiating the arrest of a top Chinese telecom official to fabricating a COVID-19 conspiracy theory, the current U.S. administration seems to be leaving a lasting legacy of a new cold war with China.

If we check Trump loyalist Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's daily activities on Twitter, no single day goes by without some form of attack on China. Step by step, one tweet after another, the top U.S. diplomat is pushing China-U.S. relations toward a road of no return.

Most recently, Secretary Pompeo has come up with an idea of reshaping the U.S.-China policy by trumpeting a five-pronged Clean Network initiative, which seeks to undermine China's robust digital industry.

This marks a strategic change in the U.S. foreign policy—a transformation from Mr. Muscle to Mr. Clean.

Part of Mr. Pompeo's job is to travel around the world to sell his clean network concept to other governments, hyping it as safeguarding sensitive information from "aggressive intrusions by malign actors," insinuating China.

Is this yet another tactic to deflect attention from the fact that the U.S. is losing its global leadership due to its misguided America First strategy? Is it designed to deflect attention from the fact that it failed to control COVID-19 at home while China has not only managed that but has also put its economy on the track to recovery? And is it yet another diversionary tactic to swing votes during the November elections?

It definitely seems to be yes on all these fronts. But will the strategy work? Well, we have to wait for only two months to find out.   

Copyedited by Sudeshna Sarkar

Comments to liuyunyun@bjreview.com