<div id="readability-page-1"><div>President Donald Trump, traveling to China with more than a dozen top American businessmen including fellow billionaires Jensen Huang, Elon Musk and Tim Cook for meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, had flattering words for the country’s most powerful government figure in an online post along the way today, calling him as “a Leader of extraordinary distinction.” Trump also described China as a “Great Country.”China critics associated with Trump back in the U.S. have been more cautious about the gatherings. Former Trump deputy national security advisor Matt Pottinger, writing in the Hoover Institution platform “Freedom Frequency” with co-author Liza Tobin, yesterday advised Trump to “reject any ploys that would weaken America,” including investment in battery manufacturing in the U.S. by Chinese manufacturer CATL, increased purchases of American advanced semiconductors, and a “peace gesture” on Taiwan, the self-governing democracy of 23 million people over which Beijing claims sovereignty.Another skeptic in point: Paul Dans, a prominent architect of Project 2025, a policy blueprint for the second Trump administration. Dans withdrew from a primary election battle against fellow Republican Senator Lindsey Graham for a U.S. Senate seat in April, and is now practicing law in South Carolina. In an interview at the Delphi Economic Forum in Greece last month, Dans endorsed the idea of a Trump-Xi meeting but said the American president should be tough while there. “He never shrinks from a fight,” Dans said of Trump. “So absolutely go. I think dialogue is the best thing, but I think he has to be very demanding.”Among the areas involving U.S.-China business ties he was worried about: Chinese investment in U.S. – particularly in American agriculture and food industries, as well as pharmaceutical industry tie-ups.“We’re very hesitant about Chinese ownership in the U.S., particularly farmland and our agricultural sector. I just was running for the United States Senate, and the biggest applause line was, ‘We’re going to take back the farmland from the Chinese,’” Dans said. “We can’t own land in China; they shouldn’t be able to own land in the U.S. And, you know, respectfully, in our very important food chain and pharmaceuticals – these are areas that the United States, for national security, needs to control.”“I'm not saying there aren't areas for cooperation, but I don't think what we've seen in terms of Chinese investing in the United States is a solution. It's actually going the other way,” he said. Dans, who holds degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Virginia Law School, was particularly critical of pork producer Smithfield Foods, which was purchased by the Chinese pork producer now called WH Group in 2013. WH Group’s chairman is Chinese billionaire Wan Long, and the Hong Kong-listed parent company is one of China’s biggest meat suppliers. “That’s the food we put in our bodies&#34;“Smithfield needs to be seized by the U.S. government and turned back to the American people. Why? It’s too much jeopardy. That’s the food that we put in our bodies everyday. We want healthy farming,” said Dans, whose federal government work includes a post as a senior advisor in the Office of Community Planning and Development at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development during the first Trump administration. In January 2021, Trump appointed him to a six-year term as chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission, according to his bio.“I want to rip up American agriculture root and branch, and actually borrow from the European system and get back healthy food. We’re talking about re-establishing family farms, going back to the land in the 21st century. And so big ag needs to go, whether it's owned by the Chinese or by American cartel interests. But particularly (with) a situation like Smithfield, I talk to people and they are very hesitant to even buy that product.” Stock investors in Smithfield, which went public on the Nasdaq in January last year, don’t seem to have any problem with the company: its shares have risen by nearly 13% in the past year and, at Tuesday’s close of $25.52, have gained a quarter from their IPO price. Dans was likewise skeptical of collaboration with China involving the pharmaceutical industry. U.S. companies including Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb have been actively forming partnerships. Just this week, Chinese drug maker Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals said it had reached a global strategic collaboration and licensing agreement with Bristol-Myers that could eventually be worth up to $15 billion for the Lianyungang-based company, including a $600 million upfront payment.“If you’re going to find a villain above big agriculture, it’s big pharma,” Dans said. “I do not believe that that is the long-term solution to healthy living. But certainly, ironically, a lot of that pharmaceutical development was pioneered by the U.S. Ultimately, I think we have to not only produce at home, but be leading in that industry (and be) a little bit more circumspect about sharing it. “Dans’s wary views about China are in line with overall public opinion in the U.S. about the country. Approximately 27% of Americans have a positive opinion of China – an increase of six percentage points since last year and nearly double since 2023, yet 71% have an unfavorable view, according to a Pew Research poll released last month. “People are wanting us to focus on rebuilding here at home,” Dans said. ForbesChina’s Drug Industry Moves From ‘Follower To Leader’ForbesTrump-Xi Meeting In Beijing Likely To Discuss Iran: Top China ExpertBy Russell FlanneryForbesPfizer To Pay $150 Million Upfront To Fosun Pharma In New China MoveBy Russell Flannery</div></div>

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President Trump praised Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to China with American businessmen, calling him a "Leader of extraordinary distinction". However, some conservative critics, including former national security advisor Matt Pottinger and Paul Dans, expressed caution regarding U.S.-China business ties, particularly concerning Chinese investments in American agriculture and pharmaceuticals. Dans emphasized the need for the U.S. to control its food supply and criticized Chinese ownership of companies like Smithfield Foods. He advocated for a return to family farming and expressed skepticism about collaborations with Chinese pharmaceutical firms.

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Trump’s China Praise Contrasts With Caution Among Some Conservative Supporters