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Josephine Ma

It was an unlikely source but just like China’s Olympic Games gold medal tally, the other big news of the day was an opportunity for some tangential points of national pride.
Billionaire Elon Musk’s platform X is banned in China but his interview with former US president Donald Trump made it onto various online platforms.
Internet users posted audio excerpts of the interview and video-sharing platform Bilibili, China’s version of YouTube, even ran the full audio video with English and Chinese subtitles.
The posts did not make the carefully curated lists of top searches but they did set off animated discussions.
In many cases, commenters highlighted minor points in Trump’s remarks and used them to boast of China’s achievements.
One of the most frequently cited quotes was Trump’s bemoaning of the lack of high-speed trains in the United States – despite claims that his administration was the one to cancel US$1 billion in funding for just such a rail service in California in 2019.
China’s vast high-speed rail network is an immense source of national pride and the attention given on the mainland to Trump’s remark reflects this.
Mainland internet users were also quick to point out the power bank that Trump used for his phone during the interview, saying it was made by Chinese company Anker Innovations.
“You have good taste. Chinese power banks are good. Made in China,” one commenter said on Weibo.


Overall, the discussions show a curiosity on the mainland about the US presidential election but not the divisions running through the American electorate.
Since the campaign started, China has been careful not to show preference to any candidate.
It also makes sure social media discussions about the candidates do not give the media and politicians overseas any excuse to accuse Beijing of meddling in the election.
Observers within China and abroad say that Beijing has already decided that no matter who wins, the US would continue to be hostile to China.
From Beijing’s point of view, the US will always be anxious about China’s attempt to challenge its dominance of the international order.
That anxiety is at the heart of the rivalry between the two countries and means the relations are bound to be rocky.
But it also means that no matter who wins, Beijing and the US should find ways to continue to resolve differences through diplomacy, instead of threats.
With more than two months still to go until voting day, the likely outcome is far clear in an election season that has been one of the most turbulent on record.
Joe Biden, the incumbent, filled his team with veterans from the administration of Barack Obama and Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee is likely to do the same.
She has already added top Obama adviser David Plouffe to her campaign, suggesting that established contacts would continue to be relevant.


This cannot be said for Trump – many of the aides he entered office with in 2016 are no longer with him. But should he win, he would nonetheless be more of a known quantity for Beijing than he was in his first administration.
Throughout the US electoral vagaries, Beijing has focused more on people-to-people exchanges and soft diplomacy than hard rhetoric. For example, two Chinese giant pandas have just arrived in San Diego, the first to make the trip to the US in two decades.
Realising other exchanges could be more difficult.
Beijing is keen for 50,000 exchange students from the United States to go to China in the next five years – a tough target given how few are there now.
Beijing also wants to attract more foreign investors, but foreign direct investment in China in general is at a record low.
Still, it’s no excuse not to make communication the priority.


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Opinion

China Opinion

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China

Diplomacy

For the powers that be in Beijing, it doesn’t matter who wins on the presidential campaign trail


For the powers that be in Beijing, it doesn’t matter who wins on the presidential campaign trail.


My Take

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


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My Take | In China, Trump amuses but he’s still not the point in the bigger picture

For the powers that be in Beijing, it doesn’t matter who wins on the presidential campaign trail