‘God Emperor’ or ‘performance-enhancing drug’? Chinese public aren’t quite sure what to make of Donald Trump
Many Chinese observers see a silver lining in his focus on economic issues to the near-total exclusion of human rights and political freedoms.
China features prominently in the rhetoric of presumed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who accuses the country of stealing American jobs and cheating at global trade. In China itself, though, he’s only now emerging as a public figure, despite notoriety elsewhere for his voluble utterances, high-profile businesses and reality TV show.
Trump is a businessman who puts his commercial interests above everything else
And although Chinese officials and state media have denounced Trump’s threats of economic retaliation, many Chinese observers see a silver lining in his focus on economic issues to the near-total exclusion of human rights and political freedoms. That appears to make him an attractive alternative to his likely rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton, who is regarded as far more critical of China’s communist system.
Trump “could in fact be the best president for China,” Hong Kong Phoenix Television political commentator Wu Jun said during a recent on-air discussion.
“That’s because the Republican Party is more practical and Trump is a businessman who puts his commercial interests above everything else,” Wu said. Clinton, on the other hand, “might be the least friendly president toward China”.
Despite his frequent evocations of China, it’s not clear how familiar Trump actually is with the country. While he’s claimed to have made “billions of dollars dealing with China,” he has no known investments in the nation, and it isn’t clear what influential figures he knows in the Chinese political and business realms. Chinese are, however, customers for Trump’s hotel, golf course and real estate ventures, while Trump-branded clothing and accessories have been made in China.
Trump mentions the country so often that a popular YouTube compilation video exists in which he says the word China more than 200 times in just over three minutes. His various statements on China range from the blunt (“We can’t continue to allow China to rape our country”) to the anodyne (“I like China very much”).
The most important thing is that he or she be solid in their knowledge about China
Still, Trump was largely unknown in China until his campaign for the Republican nomination began gathering momentum last year.