‘Can’t really trust what they say’: US and China talks

Retired US Air Force Brigadier General Robert Spalding says in the past the US has taken the “Chinese at their word”, but the second Trump administration is approaching it as not being able to “trust what they say”. “You can go all the way back to the first Bush administration, where after Tiananmen Square he sent back his national security advisor, Brent Scowcroft,” Mr Spalding told News24 Digital Presenter Gabriella Power. “I think there’s been an expectation that you can take the Chinese at their word, at face value. “In reality, the Trump administration, particularly the second Trump administration, is taking it more as you can’t really trust what they say.”