Now that there is a real threat to the status quo that was/is American politics, you’re starting to see leaders of foreign governments squirm. Wouldn’t it be a big disaster if Mexico and China had to play fair and be responsible for their own citizens, trade deals, economies? China, which has for a long time been taking the American economy to the cleaners, is now appealing to voters (to GOD, PLEASE, don’t vote for Trump) to offer a kinder, softer nominee.
With Donald Trump close to clinching the Republican nomination in the U.S. presidential elections, China is urging Americans to be “rational and objective” in viewing the relationship between the two countries.
“It is worth pointing out that mutual benefit and win-win results are defining features of economic cooperation and trade between China and the U.S., and meet the common interests of both,” China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Hong Lei, said in a regular press briefing on Wednesday.
“We hope the U.S. people from all walks of life would view bilateral relations from a reasonable and objective perspective,” he added.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich officially suspended his GOP presidential run on Wednesday, making Trump the presumptive GOP nominee.
Kasich was the only candidate left against Trump after Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas suspended his run following the billionaire’s resounding victory in Indiana. Trump swept all 57 of the state’s GOP delegates, according to NBC.
Hong’s appeal came right after he said that the U.S. presidential election “is its domestic affair” and that China has “no comment on what is happening now with the election.”
Despite being the U.S.’ largest trading partner, China’s turbo-charged ascent to world power in the last few decades has unsettled the U.S.-dominated world order amid challenging economic conditions since the global financial crisis.
Trump has played on these insecurities in his campaign, saying that China had waged “economic war” against the U.S. by taking American jobs. On Sunday, he compared the U.S. trade deficit with China to rape.
He also proposed that tariffs on imported Chinese goods be increased.
Chinese officials have avoided criticizing the brash billionaire directly, although last month finance minister Lou Jiwei called Trump an “irrational type.”
While many Chinese merely find it entertaining to watch a “politically incorrect” candidate in the U.S. presidential election, Chinese state media has used Trump’s popularity to mock Western democracy.
In an editorial published on March 14, Chinese state-run newspaper Global Times said Trump “has opened a Pandora’s box in U.S. society,” adding the U.S. now faces “the prospect of an institutional failure.”
Reacting to Trump’s triumph on Wednesday, the official Xinhua news agency cited experts who said Trump could win the presidency if he toned down on “explosive rhetoric”.
It also criticized Trump’s comments about China’s trade imbalance with the U.S., calling his logic “naïve”.