Mixed Reactions from China About “Comrade Trump”

I wrote in these pages back in January about how Trump in his first term had made China great instead of America. He withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Paris Agreement, the UN Human Rights Council, and gave China more maneuvering room in world affairs.

He also started a trade war with China, slapping additional tariffs on a total of $550 billion worth of Chinese imports, costing 245,000 American jobs instead of Chinese ones. To avoid those tariffs, some Chinese manufacturers simply moved to other countries and exported to the U.S. from there. He was such a gift that Chinese netizens fondly called him “Comrade  Trump the China Builder.”

Now with Trump returning to the White House, what do the government as well as the people in China see in their Comrade Trump 2.0?

The Chinese Foreign Ministry stated: “We respect the choice of the American people.” A China Daily editorial called for a pragmatic approach for a new beginning and the future of China-U.S. ties.

Chinese president Xi Jinping gave his congratulations to Trump in a phone call. Xi emphasized how China and the U.S. would gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation, and hoped the two sides would uphold the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation.

That win-win cooperation, however, won’t be easy. If he had imposed on China tariff rates of 7.5%-25% the first time around, Trump now talks about 60% tariffs on U.S. imports of Chinese goods, as well as ending China’s most-favored-nation trade status. Those tariffs threaten an even bigger trade war with China, with possible Chinese retaliations and negative impact on American importers and consumers. One high-ranking official of the Chinese Communist Party called the prospect of a trade war a nightmare for China’s economy, which is in a downturn.

There is, however, something China might like about Trump: his possible Taiwan policy. Unlike the Biden administration, and all his predecessor administrations, which stood firm with Taiwan against Beijing’s threat with moral and weapons support, Trump showed his transactional nature by suggesting that Taiwan should pay for U.S. defense and that Taiwan had means to do so as it had taken the semiconductor business from the U.S.

Ali Wyne, an expert on U.S.-China relations at the International Crisis Group, even noted that some within Trump’s circle on China could favor a more transactional approach by sacrificing commitments to Taiwan or other Asian partners in favor of a grand bargain with Beijing.

Xu Qinduo, a senior fellow at the Pangoal Institution in Beijing, described Trump as unpredictable, radical, and hawkish, as quoted by Newsweek. Trump’s promised tariffs and possible hardliners in the White House, Xu said, could escalate tensions not only on trade but also security issues over Taiwan and the South China Sea.

Zhiqun Zhu, a political science professor at Bucknell University, argued that Xi Jinping likely would take advantage of stroking Trump’s ego and make symbolic concessions in trade, such as buying more agricultural products from the U.S. in exchange for Trump’s reciprocity in areas such as Taiwan or the South China Sea.

Apart from the official and academic views about Trump 2.0 on trade and security issues with China, average Chinese users of Weibo also shared their views on the new president-elect:

Lovely bunny ZZ: Feels like back to the winter of the pandemic.

Moca: Commander-in-Chief well deserves his title this time, the president with greatest power in the U.S. history. Besides the Democratic Party feeling sad, there is also Zelensky. Hurry up to cede territory to Commander-in-Chief’s friend Vladimir and cease the war.

Country classic herbalist:  Driven out of the White House in 2020 and now returning to the White House in 2024. What a persevering old man!

China’s JD: Let’s see how Americans go through the “reform pains.”

Star language HH: Someone has said: It is the economy that conquers the world, not wars.

Lu SH: Some say that Trump victory is bad for China. In fact, it may not be great whoever wins. It all depends on strategies. China is a big country. As long as we are united, we will not be afraid. No matter if it is trade war or blockade, it might bring some difficulties, but it will also spur the rise of research of domestic products.

Chicken Q BB: He is still fond of building the wall.

Pony watches ball game: Normal immigration is still Okay. He wants to deal with illegal immigration.

YYWY: Compared to hot wars, I look forward more to Trump’s wars without gunpowder.

MT Emperor: The U.S. would certainly not let a woman become president.

DDDHui: Let me predict: Musk is all in with Trump. It is not a commercial gamble, but a political one. Musk will follow Trump’s path in the future and become U.S. president. This post shall be my proof!