Claims by a Chinese professor about China’s influence over the “inner circle of power” in the US have gone viral after they were seized on by Donald Trump supporters and the outgoing president himself. Although several commentators inside China questioned the claims made by Di Dongsheng, a professor of international relations at Renmin University, they were seized on by Fox News and Trump later retweeted the clip. In the November 28 speech, delivered at an event in Shanghai hosted by Guancha.cn, an influential nationalistic website, Di discussed the trade war started by Trump, asking: “So why can’t we fix the Trump administration? Why between 1992 and 2016 were China and the US able to settle all kinds of issues?” He said: “It’s because we have people at the top. At the top of America’s core inner circle of power and influence, we have our old friends.” He said the Chinese government’s friends are mostly investors in Wall Street, who have “had a very profound influence over America‘s domestic and foreign affairs since the 1970s”. ‘Mayor Pete’ could be heading to China as Joe Biden’s pick for ambassador “We used to heavily rely on them,” Di said. “But the problem is that after 2008, the status of Wall Street has declined and more importantly, after 2016, Wall Street couldn’t fix Trump He described Joe Biden as a member of the political establishment with deep Wall Street ties and briefly suggested the president-elect’s son Hunter had ties to Beijing. “Trump has been saying that Biden’s son has some sort of global foundation. Have you noticed that? Who helped [Hunter] build the foundations? Got it? There are a lot of deals inside all this,” Di said, as hundreds of listeners started to clap, some laughing. Di’s speech did not gain much traction initially but took off after it was picked up by Fox News on Tuesday. Tucker Carlson, a Fox TV host, described the video as proof of the ties between the US political elite and Chinese Communist Party and said Di had “confirmed” Hunter Biden’s ties to Beijing. Trump and his supporters seized on the footage as vindication of the president’s criticism of the US political and business elite’s ties to Beijing. He has also claimed that Biden will be soft on China at the expense of American jobs. But some inside China has questioned Di’s claims, with Hu Xijin, editor in chief of the nationalist tabloid Global Times writing on Twitter: “There are some Chinese scholars who like to brag and spice-up tales about their ties with high-level figures to seek attention and promote oneself. It’s unserious to judge China-US relations with stories told by these kinds of people.” He continued: “President Trump once called North Korean leader Kim Jong-un a ‘friend.’ This Chinese scholar was talking tall just like Trump.” Biden may struggle to ‘restore’ foreign policy to tackle China: experts Di, 44, is vice dean of the School of International Studies at Renmin University. Unlike most of his colleagues, his profile page at the university does not show many recent publications, but provided a list of events he has attended, including the launch of Xi Jinping’s book The Governance of China in 2015, which he also mentioned in the lecture last month. “Mr Di Dongsheng is able to explain profound theories in simple language and has a good sense of humour,” said his resume at the university website. Di has not responded to written inquiries from the South China Morning Post , and only said “it’s not convenient to talk to the press now” on the phone. The controversy follows a number of signals to the incoming Biden administration that Beijing is willing to cooperate on resetting ties. On Monday Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for Beijing and Washington to resume dialogue after months of increasing hostility. A Chinese diplomatic observer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the video going viral in the US “reminds us of the complexity of US politics”. “Trump and Fox were keen to seize on it and magnify it. But I think Biden will be very cautious in adjusting US-China ties,” the observer said. Watch the latest video at <a href="https://www.foxnews.com">foxnews.com</a>