By Trevor Hunnicutt WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he thinks China will soon sentence people to death for fentanyl manufacturing and distribution, as he offered fresh optimism about the prospects of a deal with Beijing on illicit drugs.

President Donald Trump’s first year back in the White House has coincided with some sharp changes in allied countries’ assessments of the importance of Chinese economic ties.

This year’s military exercises, unprecedented in length and scale, are designed to prepare people for the prospect of Chinese troops storming Taiwan’s shores.

Long before President Trump wielded tariffs as a weapon to punish Indonesia, the country was fighting back a flood of cheap Chinese goods.

China has warned that it may block the sale of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison's international ports, including one on either end of the Panama Canal, to a United States-linked consortium unless China's state-owned shipping giant, COSCO, is included in the agreement.

Despite a Washington-Beijing trade truce at May’s Geneva summit, China just dropped its U.S. Treasury holdings to the lowest level in over 16 years ― and the timing couldn't be more telling. In May, Beijing trimmed its stockpile of American debt to $756.

Global views of China and its leader Xi Jinping have improved, while opinions of the U.S. and Donald Trump have declined.

As chaotic tariff negotiations disrupt global supply chains and make planning more difficult, manufacturers in China are racing to adapt.

President Trump has been in office for six months, delivering on campaign promises, securing his "big beautiful bill" by his self-imposed deadline and taking decisive action on the world stage.