Donald Trump’s campaign team has lashed out at a reporter for distorting the truth about his position toward China. Spokesman Steven Cheung blasted Politico editor Catherine Kim for claiming that the Chinese Communist Party favors the former President and is keen for him to re-enter the White House.
Kim criticized Trump for praising Chinese leader Xi Jinping and said he has “a soft spot for strongmen.” She also referenced a New York Times article claiming China is actively trying to influence the November election result via covert social media accounts promoting Trump and denouncing President Biden.
Mr. Cheung said China is much stronger under a Biden Presidency and pointed out that Biden boasted about his relationship with Xi as recently as February. At the Governor’s ball dinner that month, the President said he had “spent a lot of time with Xi Jinping” and “traveled 17,000 miles with him throughout the country” with him.
However, Ms. Kim is not the only public commentator to claim that China hopes for a second Trump term. Scott Kennedy of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC, said Biden has inflicted more damage on China than Trump, and from a Chinese perspective, a second Biden term is a “more formidable challenge.”
Agathe Demarais, a senior policy fellow on geoeconomics at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said that Trump will likely increase divisions between the US and Europe, which will work in China’s favor in the longer term. She cites previous Trump attacks on the European Union as a “foe” and said China would welcome a split inside the Western world that Trump is more likely to deliver.
Demarais further cautions that Trump could lift sanctions on Russia, given his prior praise of Vladimir Putin. This would encourage Chinese investment in the Russian economy and further alienate Europe.
Beijing-based writer Michael Schuman agrees, saying Biden has fostered strong relations with countries such as India, hampering China’s global dominance ambitions.