Under President Donald Trump's administration, the relation between the U.S. and China was at the lowest. The rift grew with the Coronavirus pandemic and there was no end in sight. Now that Trump appears to lose the election and Democratic challenger Joe Biden is projected as the winner, Chinese state media is mocking the President.
China's largest newspaper People's Daily responded to Trump's tweet, "I won the election, by a lot" with a reply "HaHa and a laughing emoji". While the tweet can be discarded as just a social media banter, the fact that it is a state-run media, the response has echoed what the Chinese government feels about Trump. So far, no Chinese officials including the foreign ministry spokespersons have talked about the Biden presidency.
China and the U.S. — two superpowers — have been at loggerheads over various conflicts including the Coronavirus pandemic, human rights abuse, cyber-espionage, technology and national security. Trump led a battle against China that had no end in sight, destabilizing the region. Biden too has talked about being "tough on China" but he is not expected to a be strongman and instead, approach the longstanding issues with diplomacy.
As expected, the Chinese government's views heavily echoed among the people of China. The Chinese netizens are calling Trump names including the "king of knowledge", "great commander", "the emperor" amongst others.
China Optimistic But Cautious
Unlike last time when many Chinese leaders preferred Trump over Hillary Clinton, they have been quiet this time around. But experts within mainland China believe Biden would be a better candidate to ease the strained relation. "At the least, Biden's policy won't be as emotional and ridiculous as Trump's," Yu Wanli, an international relations professor at Beijing Language and Culture University, told Associated Press.
Preferring Biden over Trump is an indication that China wants to avoid conflict as it would mutually beneficial as that could give them access to the American market once again. Hence, many within the Chinese government had hoped for a Biden presidency.
"Democrats appear less militant, so they may take more care to prevent even limited military conflicts and pay more attention to crisis management communication with China," China's one of the most prominent scholars in international relations, Shi Yinhong from the Renmin University in Beijing told AP last month.
China's one of the most vocal state-run media outlets, Global Times, in an editorial said that Biden presidency could "could usher in a 'buffering period' for already-tense China-U.S. relations, and offer an opportunity for breakthroughs in resuming high-level communication and rebuilding mutual strategic trust."
China Bets on America's Decline
However, while China is optimistic, the country's leaders have taken the opportunity to further its propaganda on how the U.S. democracy and ideologies have been in decline. The U.S. 2020 Presidential Election has proved how divided the country is on ideologies. Trump getting over 70 million votes — nearly 48 percent of the total — is strong evidence.
Global Times has pushed the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) agenda to show the U.S. in a negative light, comparing the division to the Civil War. Since the Black Lives Matter protests broke out in the U.S., China's state-run media outlets and foreign ministry spokespersons highlighted how the ideologies that shaped America's image as the global leader was in decline.
In an editorial, Global Times wrote, "This time, no one would believe that the division in this election is just a show. The division is so real and profound that the only thing uncertain this time is how deeply it will hurt the U.S."
While no one is buying China's propaganda, the Biden presidency will be a crucial period in the country's history. Whether he can lead the country back to where it used to be or continue on Trump's destructive path — will be tested in the near future.
