Trump fell a few dots shy of declaring all out war against China in his State of the Union address. He spoke kindly of China, then brought back Cold War era talk of "defeating Communism". He also said he wanted China to have to play by the same rules as Russia and the US where nuclear missiles are concerned. The Chinese won't like that because they genuinely believe they are better than everyone else.
China's ancient, recently best-kept-secret, aspiration of saturating the world with the "Han" bloodline is in full swing. The recent spotlight has been the Han migration that threatens to dilute and eventually eliminate Uyghurs from the Xinjiang Uyghur "autonomous region" in China—one of many "provinces under protest" that reject forced assimilation into China's bossy political ideology—an ideology Trump threatened in announcing his goal that China come down to the lowly level of having to play by the same rules as everyone else.
Then, there was military defense. Trump's speech was patriotic. He celebrated "American exceptionalism" and the US's role in helping save people in other countries from tyranny. Some call it a "messiah complex". Some call it "American charity". Whatever it was, Trump stirred the hearts of Americans to remember their roots of militarily helping those in need, announcing massive military investment, and reviving America's old war on Communism.
The US is already preparing for war with China—in the old fashioned, soft, "humble" way, according to its Christendom roots of Chivalry. Without the pomp and parade, China's imperialistic culture may not even notice. But, war drums are sounding on the horizon. Trump's trade talks are either an irritant or a stall tactic—probably both.