TOKYO – China’s state media have begun to break their silence on this year’s US presidential race, leveling not-so-oblique criticism at real estate mogul Donald Trump, who maintains a wide lead in the Republican Party nominating contest.
China has been a frequent — though by far not the only — target of the candidate’s inflammatory remarks. Trump has pointed to his nation’s trade imbalance with the Asian powerhouse as evidence that the former is being “ripped off,” calling for a 35 per cent tariff on Chinese goods.
He has also laid responsibility for reining in North Korea squarely on Beijing’s shoulders. If China fails to stop its neighbour’s nuclear development and other misbehavior, Trump told CNN in January, the US should “be very tough on them on trade — meaning, start charging them tax or start cutting them off. You’d have China collapse in about two minutes.”
Through all of this, the Chinese government has avoided commenting on the provocative candidate, as doing so would amount to interference in domestic political matters that Beijing often warns against.
The expectation until around February that Trump was ultimately a fringe candidate and would burn off like so much morning fog also shielded him from criticism in China. Yet that view has shifted as Trump has shored up his lead in the race for the Republican nomination. China’s government remains as quiet as ever on the issue. But state media have begun sending clear signals of Beijing’s leeriness toward the candidate.
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AFP
