Oh boy...Donald doesn't really understand this type of stuff. He can't talk about policy off the cuff, he is going to get whooped on that. Why is he even bringing up China?
Calling out bullshit is good journalism. You can argue CNBC could have been more tact, but this debate is in a Republican vacuum. If you're a Republican, you love it, because it ignores criticism based on facts and reasoning in favor of what's the most Republican favored answer.The best parts are where the candidates actually disagree and make arguments for why one plan is better than the other. When it's just "Candidate, repeat your previously stated position" for each question, it's boring.
China is not part of the deal, this is correct.
One could make a case that it's being hung around to try to bait China in out of fear, or at minimum change some policies. It is a backdoor deal for China, so Trump wasn't entirely wrong.