BEIJING: As Republican Donald Trump declared victory in the US presidential election, defeating Democrat Kamala Harris, China is bracing for four more years of bitter superpower rivalry over trade, technology and security issues.
Trump showed strength across broad swathes of the country, earning a bigger share of the vote nationwide than he did four years ago, ballots showed.
Chinese strategists said that while they expected more fiery rhetoric and potentially crippling tariffs from Trump, some said his isolationist foreign policy could give Beijing a vacuum to expand its global influence.
“Beijing anticipated a close race in the US election. Although Trump’s victory is not China’s preferred outcome and raises concerns, it is not entirely unexpected,” said Tong Zhao, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
“The Chinese leadership will likely strive to maintain an appearance of a cordial personal relationship with Trump, while intensifying efforts to project China’s power and strength.”
Da Wei, director of the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University in Beijing, said Trump’s victory “may pose a relatively large challenge to Sino-US relations” based on his campaign policy proposals and actions in his previous term.
“Due to Trump’s high unpredictability, I think it is difficult for China to say that there is a fully formed plan to do “x” when Trump comes to power. It also depends on what policies the Trump administration implements.”
Source: CNA
