Trump risks driving Europe into China's embrace. Xi Jinping will be delighted

How does Xi Jinping view the circus Donald Trump is ring-mastering in Washington? There is no denying that the new president has created an opportunity for Xi to drive a wedge into the flank of the battered transatlantic alliance. China's special representative to the EU optimistically described Trump's treatment of Europeans as so "appalling" that it was likely to make them more willing to recognise Beijing's approach to "peace, friendship, goodwill and win-win cooperation". It was only a few months ago that Xi deserved his reputation as the world's disruptor-in-chief. Beijing was (and still is) encroaching in the South China…