The Wall Street Journal's conservative editorial board warned Monday that China is not living up to the rosy picture President Donald Trump painted after Chinese president Xi Jinping visited the White House.
Xi's visit to the White House marked the first time a Chinese leader has set foot in America in more than a decade. Following the visit, the Trump administration put up pictures of Xi and Trump around the White House and Trump made fawning posts about his Chinese counterpart on his Truth Social account.
However, the Wall Street Journal's editors noted there is evidence that China is not behaving like a newfound ally of the U.S. The editors issued a stark warning to Trump in a new editorial on Monday about the recent arrest of a Chinese spy on American soil.
"The phrase of the hour in Washington is that the Trump Administration wants 'strategic stability' with China, and it’s a nice aspiration," the editorial reads in part. "But the Chinese Communist Party isn’t behaving like a force for peace in the world, and the latest evidence is Beijing’s alleged spying in the U.S. on the son of Taiwan’s president."
The editorial pointed to the FBI's recent arrest of a 34-year-old woman who was charged with "[surveilling] the Taiwanese President’s son and his family—filming their home, vehicles," and reporting information back to someone connected to the Chinese Communist Party.
China's interest in spying on a member of the Taiwanese president's family is easy to understand, the editorial argues. What's more difficult is the lack of pushback from the Trump administration.
"Mr. Lai’s son appears to be living in the U.S. and working in Washington state. No doubt the Communist Party wants to collect information about Mr. Lai’s family that it could exploit to blackmail or harm the President and his party in Taiwan," the WSJ editors wrote. "And it is notable, if not a great surprise, that Beijing is brazen enough to think that it can get away with something like this in the U.S. homeland."
"No matter President Xi Jinping’s pronouncements about steady relations with the U.S., what matters is Beijing’s conduct. China acts against U.S. interests around the globe, including on American soil.