WASHINGTON -- During the campaign, President-elect Trump threatened to start a trade war with China.
“We can’t continue to allow China to rape our country and that’s what they’re doing,” he said on the trail.
Yet he has also bragged about his great business relationship with the Chinese.
“The thing they most want - you know what one of the ten
things: anything Trump. You believe it? My apartments, my ties. They
love me,” he said at a 2014 event.
Trump’s web of financial
interests in China only adds to the unprecedented conflicts posed by his
global business which will be run by his children, who are also his key
advisers.
His daughter Ivanka once told the Wall Street Journal “for us there is a great future in China.”
They
have eyed potential hotel projects in Beijing and Shenzhen. Trump’s
financial disclosure lists companies such as Trump China Development
LLC.
In 2012, Ivanka said they had a team based in Shanghai.
“There’s
such interest in the brand being here,” she said to the Wall Street
Journal. “We’re really ramping up our commitment to meeting the right
partners and finding the right opportunities.”
Scott Kennedy
CBS News
But
taking those steps is all but impossible without also doing business
with the Chinese government, according to Scott Kennedy of the Center
for Strategic and International Studies.
“The line between
business and government is a lot fuzzier and much more complex,” he
said. “They can open and close doors to individual deals in a way that
you can’t elsewhere in the world.”
China also owes the president-elect money: The state-run Bank of China is a tenant in Trump Tower.
One potential check on these conflicts is a clause in the
constitution that forbids a government official receiving payments from
foreign governments or companies owned by foreign governments. But it
would be up to the Republican-controlled Congress to enforce it.
In
response to a request for comment, a spokesperson for the Trump
Organization said “We are in the process of vetting various structures
with the goal of the immediate transfer of management of The Trump
Organization and its portfolio of businesses to Donald Jr., Ivanka and
Eric Trump as well as a team of highly skilled executives. This is a top
priority at the Organization and the structure that is ultimately
selected will comply with all applicable rules and regulations.”
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