Why trade is a red herring in rising China-US tensions

A Chinese employee works on manufacturing products that will be exported to the US at a factory in Binzhou in China's eastern Shandong province on May 17. The US has blocked Huawei from the US market and banned the export of US technology and materials to the company. [AFP]

China was in the crosshairs of President Trump’s administration right from his election campaign.

He kept reminding Americans how China had killed their jobs through manipulation of the currency, low environmental standards and stealing of intellectual property - ideas protected by law through patents, copyrights or just secrets.