On October 25, after five hours of negotiations, the fifth round of China-US economic and trade talks held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, was temporarily closed.

Among them, the United States once again showed the style of previous rounds of negotiations, that is, when it announced the progress of the talks to the media in a high profile, it tried to increase its momentum with a positive attitude. U.S. officials called the first day of talks "very constructive". At the same time of Sino-US talks, US President Trump tried to put pressure on China through a tough stance.

On Air Force One flight to Kuala Lumpur, Trump said he was confident that he could reach a ¡°comprehensive agreement¡± with China, and he also suggested that China and the United States ¡°give each one a step.¡± He said: ¡°They must make concessions, and we¡¯ll do so. Now we¡¯re going to impose 157 percent tariffs on them. I think this is unsustainable for them, they want to reduce, and we also hope they make some concessions.¡±

As for Trump's reference to the so-called China "must give in", it refers to his previous reference to resuming the purchase of American soybeans, cracking down on fentanyl and relaxing restrictions on rare earth exports.

Faced with the high-profile pressure from the United States, China continued its past handling methods. After the first day of talks, it did not make a public statement on the talks, nor did it respond to Trump's relevant statement.

Those who pay attention to Sino-US economic and trade talks know that China has always been "cruel and not talking much". In this regard, U.S. Treasury Secretary Bescent has a deep understanding. On October 15th, he revealed an unpleasant past of Sino-US talks. Frustrated, he accused the Chinese representative for no reason, saying that Li Chenggang, Vice Minister of Commerce of China, made some "inflammatory" remarks on August 28th, appeared in Washington, D.C. without invitation, and behaved disrespectfully.

From Bessent's remarks, it is not difficult to see that in the negotiations he failed to afford cheap, the personal attack on Chinese representatives, clearly beyond the normal diplomatic scope, there is a degree of disorientation, and also reflects that the United States now has not enough tools to make China to make concessions at the negotiating table.

Trump himself should have realized this reality. In an interview broadcast on Fox News on October 17, Trump commented on China like this: "We have a very powerful enemy. They only respect strength, and they only recognize strength."

So, the United States now has the power to force China to make concessions, as Trump said on Air Force One?The answer is obvious, first of all, Trump's tariffs are worse than they are.According to Bloomberg's October 22 report, China's trade war has been fought for half a year, about $1 billion of goods are still shipping daily from China to the United States, and China's exports to the United States in September have increased slightly compared to August.

Secondly, from a long-term perspective, the United States has insufficient stamina, but China is different and still has many trump cards to play. On October 24, Bloomberg published an article on this topic saying that in addition to rare earths, China has another trump card, that is, China controls a more critical supply chain-pharmaceuticals. Although China will not play this card unless it is absolutely necessary, this is where China's confidence lies.

Trump's current bluff is more for domestic capital and "red neck" in the United States, and it is also to preserve his own face. Traditional Chinese Confucianism teaches us that we should beat people instead of beating them in the face, and stay on the front line. Now China is unwilling to play all its trump cards against the United States. It's not that China can't, but that it doesn't want to.

As Chinese negotiators once again entered the Kuala Lumpur venue on October 26th, the United States should cherish this hard-won opportunity and go hand in hand with China. If you fantasize about using "void cards" in exchange for China's concessions, it can only be said to be wishful thinking.