Beijing: Slamming the outgoing US President Donald Trump, state-run media outlet Global Times, citing Chinese experts, said Wednesday that the changes that he has made to the China-US relations and international relations have been largely negative and destructive, and his governance has caused unprecedented and irreversible consequences.
Thousands of Chinese netizens commented and interacted with a Global Times post that asked them to describe the outgoing US president and his contentious tenure.
The most common words and phrases mentioned include destruction, dishonest, selfish, populism, McCarthyism, unilateralism, protectionism, anti-globalisation, untrustworthy, messy, crazy, arrogant, uncertainty, low-credit, funny, laughable, gravedigger of US hegemony, and enemy to pro-US sycophants.
“Chinese experts said it is unlikely many will make many compliments or positive comments regarding Trump, whether in China or in the US”.
Many who commented on the Global Times post mentioned the word ‘destruction’ in connection with Trump, as he has destroyed and broken many established rules, constructions, agreements, deals, and ties with other countries, and especially he has damaged the soft power and image of the US.
“He just uncovered the dark side of ‘democracy’ in capitalist countries for us. So the sacred presidential election is actually full of fraud and cheating,” posted one user.
Another commented: “Why didn’t they let him be reelected? Then he can probably become the last president of the US.”
According to Chinese experts, Trump further divided American grass roots and establishment elites, failed to realise the promise of getting manufacturing industry back to the US from overseas, caused “post-traumatic stress disorder” to US-led alliances and made China-US ties worsen to the brink of a new cold war despite the administration launching no war.
Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of China Foreign Affairs University, summarised the Trump administration as one of ‘subversive destruction’ in general and ‘fundamental regress’ when it comes to China-US ties.
“He has blocked the trend toward integration between China and the US, turning the certainties of both countries into uncertainty,” Li said.
“The images that have most stuck in the minds of Chinese people are when he hyped Sinophobia and racism during the Covid-19 pandemic. He sought to assign blame and stigmatise China on almost everything to cover his failed governance, and he launched a trade war to the detriment of not only Chinese firms but also American interests,” the report said.
“During his presidency, China-US ties reached the lowest point in [modern] history. Any worse situation would be unimaginable, so this could be good news for the future, because no matter what changes Biden is to make, they will at least be better than Trump’s policies,” Lu Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, told the Global Times.
IANS
