Coming this fall: Tim Trainer’s new novel, “The China Dilemma,” reveals China’s coercive tactics
Washington, DC, October 1, 2026 — China leverages its advantages in author Timothy Trainer’s newest novel, The China Dilemma, the third book in his China series.
Like the previous two titles, The China Connection and The China Factor, Trainer’s upcoming title, The China Dilemma delves into the competitive and contentious relationship between the world’s two biggest economies. It blends elements of geopolitical thrillers and espionage novels to deliver international intrigue.
“The three novels highlight the U.S.-China economic rivalry and how it affects other countries as the characters and scenes take us beyond the two global competitors,” Trainer explains. “News organizations cover China’s dominance in rare earth mineral refining almost daily. The China Dilemma, which is set in 2007, reveals the decline of the rare earth minerals industries in the U.S. and Europe and China’s tightening grip on these minerals.”
“Chasing profits in China means bending to policies demanding that companies and foreign governments play by China’s rules,” Trainer insists. “China climbs the economic value chain and accelerates its development off the backs of foreign companies and their technology. It means surrendering trade secrets and other valuable assets for a slice of the market.”
What makes The China Dilemma a must-read is that it also features current contentious economic themes. Chinese suppliers withhold critical parts from foreign companies’ assembly operations in China unless those companies hire, train, and educate Chinese workers.
“There’s an unwritten code of silence forced on the foreign companies,” Trainer shares. “Jean Leconte refuses to keep quiet, but neither his company nor European Government officials risk breaking the code of silence. He turns to Glo-Ex, a private group, to reveal China’s practices that undermine his and other foreign companies.”
“Our protagonist, Kellie Liang and her Glo-Ex colleagues struggle to get U.S. officials to talk about China’s tactics, believing that the code of silence should be broken,” Trainer adds. “In this tense and delicate U.S.-China relationship, Americans presume that our position in the world means we hold the winning hand, but China also has some strong cards to play,” Trainer says.
Interestingly, Kellie Liang was the series’ unplanned heroine.
“That is often typical for authors,” says Hope Katz Gibbs, journalist, author, founder of InkandescentPR.com, and PR director for Elaine’s Literary Salon, which features hundreds of authors each year on its podcast/video series — including Trainer on November 7.
“In The China Dilemma, Kellie Liang isn’t just reacting to situations,” Gibbs observes. “She plans and initiates actions. She’s confident of her instincts. She shines as a strong-willed character, and her character has evolved tremendously since the first novel. I love hearing when authors step back and let the characters grow and speak for themselves. That’s the true art and craft of good fiction writing.”
Plus, Gibbs notes, “critical international themes such as job security, competition, and economic security flow through all of the novels, especially this new one. We have to remind ourselves that The China Dilemma is a work of fiction because of the way Tim blends real-world issues into the story.”
Given its timely debut, The China Dilemma is likely to be as popular as The China Factor, which rose as high as No. 10 on Amazon’s Asia Literature Best Seller list in 2026. The novels are published by Joshua Tree Publishing and are available on Amazon, Apple and Barnes & Noble.
About the Timothy Trainer: Writing books is a passion for attorney Timothy Trainer, who for more than three decades focused on intellectual property issues in his day job. He has worked in government agencies and in the private sector and his assignments have taken him to 60 countries around the world.
Tim found time to pen a few non-fiction tomes, including his first book, Customs Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights; the 15th edition was published in 2020. Thomson Reuters’ Aspatore Books published Tim’s next title in 2015, Potato Chips to Computer Chips: The War on Fake Stuff.
Fiction was a genre he always wanted to try. In 2019, Pendulum Over the Pacific, was released by Joshua Tree Publishing. “This political intrigue story is set in Tokyo and Washington, D.C., and centers on trade tensions between the U.S. and Japan in the late 1980s,” Tim explains.
In 2023, his first series hit bookstores: The China Connection.
In 2024, he published the sequel, The China Factor, hit #10 on the Amazon Asian Literature list.
