Terril Jones: U.S.–China tensions are “neither inevitable nor permanent”

Terril Jones: “You are studying in China, about China. You are learning to interpret events and turn them into words, and those skills will be of great value.” (GBJ photo by Rick Dunham)

By YAN CHANG

Global Business Journalism reporter

U.S.-China tensions may be sharp today but are “neither inevitable nor permanent,” former Reuters Beijing correspondent Terril Yue Jones told students at Tsinghua University on Nov. 17.

Jones, now an international journalism instructor at the Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies at Claremont McKenna College, described Donald Trump’s two presidential administrations as an important turning point in relations between the world’s two largest economies. Tariffs, a heated technology rivalry and rapidly shifting presidential statements have created what he called a “highly volatile” period.

“I saw relations go to a very low point” during Trump’s first term, Jones said, speaking by video link from California.

He suggested that a different outcome in the 2016 U.S. election might have led to “more predictable” engagement, although competition would still exist. Still, he rejected the idea that conflict is unavoidable.

“It is not inevitable, and it is not permanent,” said Jones, a former correspondent for The Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times and Forbes. “Both Donald Trump and Xi Jinping can change national policy overnight with a single speech.”

From Nixon to reform

Jones gave the ninth lecture of the 2025 Fall GBJ Hot Topics Lecture Series. In his talk, he reviewed key turning points in U.S.–China relations since the 1970s and answered questions on geopolitics, media narratives and global leadership.

Jones recalled his first visit to China shortly before the end of the Cultural Revolution.

“My first exposure to China was in January 1976,” he said. “Back then, U.S.-China relations were very, very early.”

When he returned in 1982 as an Associated Press correspondent, he was one of only two AP reporters in Beijing. China was entering the early years of reform and opening. He covered foreign companies’ efforts to enter the Chinese market and China’s push for advanced technology transfers and joint ventures controlled by the Chinese side.

“American companies wanted access to this huge market,” he noted. “And China drove a hard deal. They wanted the best technology, and they would not settle for anything less.”

Throughout the 1980s, Jones reported on foreign investment, business talks and China’s growing economy.

Post-1989 strains and growing economic links

Jones noted that the 1989 political crisis created short-term tension in diplomacy but did not stop economic engagement.

“The economic imperatives were so strong,” he said, and cooperation resumed quickly.

By the 2000s, China had become a major manufacturing center. Human rights issues, counterfeit goods and Taiwan continued to create friction, yet economic interdependence strengthened throughout the decade.

When Jones returned to Beijing as a Reuters political correspondent in the 2010s, he covered leadership changes and the rise of large state-owned banks.

“One of the first things they wanted me to do was look at how big Chinese banks had become,” he added. “At one point, four of the world’s biggest banks by assets were Chinese.”

Donald Trump has brought new uncertainty to the bilateral relationship. (Photo by the New Time/ Unsplash)

The Trump years and new uncertainty

The second Trump presidency has brought renewed conflict, but Jones said the recent summit between the two presidents brought short-term stability. Still, underlying tensions remain significant and are heavily influenced by domestic political shifts. He noted that U.S. attention to Asia often varies when Washington is focused on domestic issues or other foreign crises.

“When the United States is preoccupied elsewhere,” he said, “developments in the western Pacific do not get the attention they should.”

TikTok debate

Responding to a question from Global Business Journalism co-director Rick Dunham about the debate over TikTok, Jones said political discussion differs sharply from user attitudes.

“The vast majority of Americans who use TikTok don’t care,” he added. “They are attached to their phones, and many people actually earn their living on the platform.”

He added that political critics often describe TikTok as a national security risk even though little evidence is publicly available.

“Some people say it is a tool of the Chinese government,” Jones said.

But he explained that the issue is also closely tied to U.S. domestic politics. Trump has sided with TikTok users, while most Republican and Democratic lawmakers have sided with “China hawks” critical of the government’s human rights record and technology policies.

Media narratives and misperceptions

Jones also described how media coverage shapes how people in both countries view each other. Restrictions on foreign correspondents have pushed many U.S. reporters to cover China from outside the country, which he said often results in simplified narratives.

“There are still stereotypes that American media repeat,” he said, pointing to repeated predictions about the collapse of China’s economy. “If you do not understand the full picture, you walk away with an incorrect big picture.”

He added that some Chinese media show exaggerated images of the United States, such as constant gun violence or social disorder.

“These stories are based on kernels of fact,” he said, “but they are always out of proportion.”

Preparing future journalists

Jones ended by encouraging GBJ students to use their cross-cultural experience.

“You are studying in China, about China,” he said. “You are learning to interpret events and turn them into words, and those skills will be of great value.”

He said that future journalists who understand China, including students in the Global Business Journalism program, will play an important role in improving understanding between the two countries.

“I am envious,” he said. “I did not have such a program available.”