Trump’s America is not anti-China or anti-immigrant: it simply wants to play fair

I refer to two recent articles by Andrew Sheng (“From Brexit to Donald Trump, this is why things fall apart”, October 26; “US midterm results are but a blip in the great populist revolt”, November 10).

In the first, Mr Sheng states that “the American public turned against globalisation and blamed China and immigrants for their problems”. Mr Sheng must know that no one is scapegoating anyone. The American public is merely concerned about fairness: first, fairness in trade, and second, fairness for legal immigrants who follow proper procedures but have to wait longer to enter the United States than illegal immigrants do. To conflate legal and illegal immigration serves no purpose.

Again, on November 10, Mr Sheng claims that the “90 per cent” of Americans blame foreigners and immigrants for job losses. Not true. Opposition to illegal immigration is motivated by the fairness factor: millions apply at US embassies and consulates for the right to migrate to the US. Why should anyone be allowed to just walk in?

John Chiu, Chai Wan