The Trump administration has launched a coordinated crackdown on China just days before President Trump's meeting with Xi Jinping in Beijing. Treasury sanctioned Chinese firms for providing targeting data to Iran that enabled strikes causing billions of dollars in damage to U.S. facilities in the Middle East. The White House also accused Beijing of stealing artificial intelligence models from American tech companies through what it called "industrial-scale campaigns."

Several high-profile actions followed. Federal prosecutors charged Eileen Wang, the mayor of Arcadia, California, with illegally working for Beijing. The FCC banned imports of new consumer routers made overseas, targeting Chinese manufacturers including TP-Link, the largest producer of U.S. consumer routers. Chinese hackers were also discovered inside an FBI database containing surveillance order information.

The timing appears strategic. "These are all areas where the president himself has placed a high degree of priority," noted Elizabeth Economy of Stanford's Hoover Institution. The administration delayed a $13 billion military aid package for Taiwan, giving Xi time to voice objections. Trump struck a conciliatory tone, calling Xi a "great leader," while Xi warned that "conflicts" over Taiwan remain possible.