China features prominently in the rhetoric of presumed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who accuses the country of stealing American jobs and cheating at global trade.
Although the government has denounced Trump’s threats of economic retaliation, many Chinese observers see a silver lining in his focus on economic issues instead of human rights and political freedoms. That could make him an attractive alternative to his likely rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Trump “could in fact be the best president for China,” Hong Kong Phoenix Television political commentator Wu Jun said during a recent on-air discussion. Clinton, on the other hand, “might be the least friendly president toward China.”
It’s not clear how familiar Trump actually is with China. While he’s claimed to have made “billions of dollars dealing with China,” he has no known investments in the nation.
Chinese are customers for Trump’s hotel, golf course and real estate ventures, while Trump-branded clothing and accessories have been made in China.
Trump mentions the country so often that a popular YouTube compilation video exists in which he says the word China more than 200 times in just over 3 minutes.
Still, Trump was largely unknown in China until his campaign for the Republican nomination began gathering momentum last year.
Trump’s call for a 45 percent tariff on imports that would hit China hard has been lambasted by Finance Minister Lou Jiwei, who said enforcing such a tariff would cost the US its global leadership.
(This story has been edited for length.)
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