Holden Chow in “ US attacks on China holding back global economic recovery ” (October 1) presents a sensible argument and displays the vision shared by many smart foreign politicians who maintain a neutral stance amid the US’ misguided plot against China to cover up US President Donald Trump’s disastrous leadership. The more Trump and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo try to malign and target China, the greater the adverse consequences they face from such misrepresentation. Reality strikes back with around 3,500 companies suing the Trump administration for imposing import tariffs on China products, which have significantly affected their business. Trump’s response will no doubt be to have Pompeo back his “America first” policies, as he did in a controversial taped address to the Republican National Congress from Jerusalem while visiting Israel in an official capacity, or to repeat the usual talking points as he did in Latin America. Of course, the divisive US president knows well that only substance and merit sell at the ballot rather than ugly gimmicks by the “worst secretary of state” in history, as Pompeo has been called in The New York Times and The Washington Post . The foreign deployments of his top diplomat, who evokes the bipolar rhetoric of the Cold War with his frequent reference to the “free world”, indicates that the US president has lost all his domestic trump cards due to his egotistical indifference to public concerns. The heavy Covid-19 pandemic casualty figures have thrust on him a liability that no amount of pretended innocence can mitigate: he can’t shake off his duty to care. What was more disgusting was his roguish attitude in the first presidential debate with the more enlightened Joe Biden whom the polls rightly show to be set for a landslide win. I don’t think the American people wish to have four more years of this agony. Edmond Pang, Fanling This is not the face of democracy we wish to see The first US presidential debate turned out to be a noisy quarrel instead of a civilised “war of words”. At times, the three gentlemen, the moderator included, were all talking at once. It was a total mess. I expected the debate to provide an arena for the candidates of both parties to explain their policies clearly. But it turned out to be a smear campaign. One of the speakers was too bossy. He tried to dominate while the other tried to stop his opponent by insulting him in front of the American people, even as the moderator tried very hard to ensure the debate proceeded smoothly. However, neither candidate was able to display brilliant debating skills, resorting instead to talking over each other and name-calling. It was indeed a nightmare, though the moderator did ask some good questions. While both candidates refuted each others’ points in areas such as taxes, racial issues, Covid-19 and trade with China, I don’t think their viewpoints offered anything new. As there will be two more debates – one for the vice-president incumbents and another one for these two gentlemen again – l do hope that we as an audience will witness a good debate instead of bullying tactics. We expect to see the beauty of democracy instead of its ugly face. Lo Wai Kong, Lai Chi Kok