I've heard five critiques:
1) Too confrontation for admin critics
2) Too restrained for CCP critics
3) Too transactional for allies
4) Too values-based for Trump
5) Too late to matter
warontherocks.com/2020/06/five-c…
Unfortunately, the administration remains "badly fractured intellectually" on China policy. The authors were saddled with several basic contradictions.
whitehouse.gov/wp-content/upl…
But National Security Advisor O'Brien just said "China is not going to change its behavior." So what's the ultimate goal?
But senior administration officials frequently call out the Communist Party and suggest "democratic processes are really the only way to go." How long can these two arguments coexist?
How can the administration square the transactional America First rhetoric it uses at home with the focus on alliances and “shared interests and values” it touts abroad?
It criticizes China on Xinjiang. He says "go ahead." It calls out "political interference." He wants "the crucial farm-state vote." It labels China a "strategic competitor." He says "strategic partner." Which is it?
This strategy comes six months before the end of a presidential term, after a trade war, and amidst worsening tensions. Has it already been overtaken by events?
The result is "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma." The words flow smoothly, but few will be convinced.