Chinese experts and netizens believe democracy in the United States is “in deep trouble” and a “toxic atmosphere” is building up in the country after the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, Chinese state media reported.
The Global Times, a nationalistic English-language tabloid published by the ruling Communist Party, reported on Sunday that Chinese netizens said the attempt on Trump’s life “shows that the US democracy is in deep trouble” and the country will be “more divided.”
Relevant topics are trending on Chinese social media sites like Weibo and Xiaohongshu. Weibo is China‘s leading microblogging and X-like platform while Xiaohongshu, also known as Little Red Book, has been described as “China’s answer to Instagram.”
Some Chinese netizens have predicted that Trump’s political enemies have almost no chance of beating him legally, so he might face more assassination attempts, the Global Times said.
Donald Trump is seen surrounded by Secret Service agents following an assassination attempt at a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. Chinese experts and netizens believe democracy in the U.S. is “in deep trouble” after the assassination attempt.
Rebecca DROKE/AFP via Getty Images
Hu Xijin, a former editor-in-chief of the Global Times, wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that he felt that “the shot will win Trump a lot of sympathy.” He believed that the former president is “one step closer to returning to the White House.”
Hu has commented on the first presidential debate between Trump and President Joe Biden last month. He derided it as “two old men” in a “negative advertisement for Western democracy,” but said it had been “very entertaining” for many Chinese people.
Following Saturday’s attempted assassination, numerous Chinese e-commerce platforms are already offering T-shirts featuring a photo of Trump just after the shooting. An online vendor claimed that dozens of orders had been filed as of Sunday morning.
A reporter with the Global Times described this business opportunity in China as “Yiwu speed.” Yiwu, the world’s largest wholesale market for small commodities, is located in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang.
Academic experts in China have been paying close attention to the issue of polarization in the U.S. since the 2016 election.
“In the midst of relentless mutual accusations and personal attacks between the two elderly candidates, a toxic atmosphere is continuously building up,” Lü Xiang, an expert on American studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said to the Global Times.
He argued that it is not hard to imagine further violent incidents occurring in this “poisonous environment.”
Jin Canrong, an associate dean of the School of International Studies at the Renmin University of China, told the tabloid that compromise has become a lost art in the U.S. politics as Americans are now “extreme and reckless.”
He warned that there is a risk of “civil war” in the country as the wealth gap continues to widen and social issues like immigration have become “very confrontational.”
“The biggest characteristic of American elections is their unpredictability,” the publication quoted Li Haidong, a professor from the China Foreign Affairs University, as saying. He added that it is not possible to predict what might happen next ahead of November’s election.
Trump’s campaign and the Chinese Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to Newsweek‘s separate requests for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.