I can picture the banners and the murals. Sometime in the near future the pantheon of heroic figures that China will revere will certainly include Donald Trump. China was on the road to superpower status but for the first 15 years of the 21st century the road looked long and difficult. Then came Donald.
The list of the Chinese people’s exalted heroes will include Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai of course. And Xi Jinping will naturally be on an equal level with the founders. There will also be other heroes of communism – Lenin, Stalin, perhaps Trotsky, Castro, Che Guevara, Ho Chi Minh. The one capitalist addition to the list will be Trump for having single-handedly ensured China’s ascendancy to stand-alone world power and economic dominance.
Trump’s chaotic, arbitrary and punitive tariff policy, his bullying treatment and alienation of allies, his idiotic military strikes and wars, his cruel and extreme immigrant policies, his short-sighted disengagement from all international efforts to fight climate change and protect international health, his petulant cessation of renewable energy technology development, and his endless posturing, threatening and bragging will have diminished both the hard and soft power of the USA beyond repair.
As King George sang in Hamilton: Oceans rise, empires fall. Some fall faster than others though, and some shoot themselves in the foot to hasten their downfall. Trump has set the wheels in motion for China to surge past the USA on all fronts. China’s rise was inevitable given its size and its highly educated and motivated workforce, but a wiser US president would have created a relationship with China and the rest of the world that could benefit all.
In the winner-take-all Trumpian-imagined dystopia, the USA is fast becoming a pariah. The Chinese won’t miss this opportunity and perhaps the world will be better off for it. China may be authoritarian and a bit on the pushy side, but at least its leader appears to not be a narcissistic lunatic.
It’s not too early to get the Chinese students and party members working on Trump posters and banners. We know how much Donald loves adoration. He’ll be delighted.
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