Opinion | Xi and Trump are remaking the world, and we should all be afraid

Michael Chugani says China and the US have changed drastically under Xi and Trump’s leadership, for the worse in many ways, destabilising global relations

Few can escape the impact of their escalating rivalry, not least Hong Kong, which has seen its freedoms clipped amid Beijing’s fear of external interference

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US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping pose for a photo at the Forbidden City in Beijing on November 8, 2017, during Trump’s visit to China. The world is bearing the brunt of the toxic fallout from Trump’s tenacious assaults on China’s policies and Xi’s determination not to let the West thwart his country’s rise. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:00pm, 26 Dec 2018Updated: 6:23pm, 26 Dec 2018

On January 20, Donald Trump will have been the president of the United States for two years. His rule has been so erratic that not only the US but the world is no longer recognisable to his country’s allies and enemies alike. In the six years Xi Jinping has been China’s leader, he, too, has made his country unrecognisable to the outside world.

There’s a toxic fallout from Trump’s tenacious assaults on China’s policies and Xi’s determination not to let the West thwart his country’s rise. This fallout has made Hong Kong unrecognisable, too. We were a city with all the trappings of democracy, minus only the right to directly elect our leader and all members of the legislature.

Our freewheeling media, free speech, and the right to stand for elections made us a beacon in Asia. Now the media dare not interview anyone who even peacefully advocates independence. Our government has added new limits on free speech.

The government has disqualified election candidates for exercising free speech. A political party has been banned. A foreign journalist has been expelled for moderating a speech on independence. And, last week, a Taiwanese heavy metal band led by a Taiwan independence advocate had to cancel its Hong Kong concert after our government refused visas.

I no longer recognise Hong Kong even though I was born and raised here. How did this happen? Some has to do with what Beijing believes is Trump’s dogged drive to stifle China’s rise. Beijing has, for some years, been spooked by talk of Hong Kong independence even though it involved a tiny minority of delusional youngsters.