Michael Pillsbury, a China expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, said the deal between the two countries should be seen as a win for Trump.  “This is promising,” said Pillsbury, who advised Trump on China during his first term. “But it could still blow up if there is no dramatic progress in 90 days.”

“They are kind of desperate,” Pillsbury said. “Their economy is in trouble. Now that Trump put the tariffs on, they know this campaign has failed.”

This view is advanced by Michael Pillsbury in his book “The Hundred-Year Marathon: China’s Secret Strategy to Replace America as the Global Superpower,” which was influential during the Trump administration, and by Rush Doshi in “The Long Game: China’s Grand Strategy to Displace American Order.” Mr. Doshi, a political scientist at Yale University, is now serving on President Biden’s National Security Council.

On this episode of Free Expression, Wall Street Journal Editor at Large Gerry Baker speaks

Michael Pillsbury, a China expert who advised the Trump administration on China. The tone seems to be different. Now China is not just equal to us, they are superior,” said Mr. Pillsbury. He said the U.S. needs to find more leverage over China.

Michael Pillsbury, an outside adviser to Mr. Trump on China and a scholar at the Hudson Institute, a conservative research institution, said he didn't ...