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US-China relations
ChinaDiplomacy
Shi Jiangtao
Shi Jiangtao

My Take | China’s leadership hints it is bracing for the possible return of Donald Trump

  • Xi Jinping’s recent meeting with Antony Blinken offers glimpses of how Beijing is positioning for another Trump presidency
  • Second Trump administration would further weaken America’s global standing, helping China to position itself as an alternative, observers say

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Chinese leaders and state-run media have largely remained muted about US election-related questions, until recently. Photo: Reuters
Shi Jiangtao

As countries around the world fret about Donald Trump’s possible return to the White House, Chinese leaders and state-run media have remained mostly muted on election-related questions.

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On Thursday, China’s top diplomat and foreign minister, Wang Yi, broke the silence and commented on the coming American elections, just as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Beijing to meet President Xi Jinping.

“Whoever is elected, Chinese and American peoples will still need to have exchanges and cooperation, and the two major countries must find the right way to get along with each other,” he told Al Jazeera News in a written interview published on Thursday.

He admitted that “the China-US relationship cannot go back to its past” after the cold war-style confrontation that had ensued since Trump’s first term began in 2017.

“But it should, and can fully, have a bright future,” he claimed, while reiterating Xi’s call for “mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation” during a summit with US President Joe Biden in San Francisco six months ago.

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