Meet Donald Trump’s Chinese Fan Club
By Tyler Durden
For the duration of Donald Trump’s campaign trail right after Hillary Clinton, China has been the go-to “punching bag.” Earlier this month, the presumptive Republican nominee went as far as describing China’s trade relationship with the U.S. as “rape” and has repeatedly said China is stealing U.S. jobs. Curiously, despite Trump’s relentless criticism of China, it is here that the republican candidate is building a small but rapidly growing fan base who see beyond the bluster (while loathing what Hillary Clinton stands for). Fans such as Gu Yu, “a young technology entrepreneur, likes his blunt, no-punches-held approach.”
“I think Donald Trump has the guts to say things that normal people in the rest of society fear to say,” said Gu. He says he is 100% supportive of Trump, and even though he can’t cast a ballot, he says the Americans that can should trust Trump. In a moment of surprising lucidity, Gu said that “I think political correctness covers up problems instead of solving them.” He is absolutely correct.
Gu is part of a small but vocal group of Chinese fans of the presumptive GOP nominee. Online they have formed small groups on Chinese social media site Weibo, with names like “Donald J Trump Superfans Nation.”
According to CNN, one social media user wrote, “Hillary Clinton just makes empty promises, while Trump is the King of doing what he says.” Another calls him “honest, sharp, pragmatic, and stylish.” One person even said they’d vote for him because he is “so handsome.”
Even more curious is that Trump who repeatedly bashed China is starting to grow a cult following, Hillary who has been far more tempered and respectful in her policy stance on China, if faring far worse.
One often quoted comment from Chinese social media platform Weibo recalls her husband’s public infidelity: “If she can’t manage her husband, how can she manage America?” And Sima Nan, a television pundit sometimes described as China’s Bill O’Reilly, openly calls her a “crazy old woman.”
To be sure, when it comes to Trump, the opinions of fans like Gu aren’t always shared by China’s official state media for obvious reasons. In March, the state-run newspaper The Global Times called Trump a “rich narcissist, and a clown” and said “the rise of a racist … worries the whole world.”
However, in yet anotehr curious twist, an online poll by the same paper did suggest that 54% of Chinese would vote in favor of the U.S. billionaire.
China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, when recently asked about Trump’s candidacy, urged people to take a rational and objective view of the relationship between the two countries.
But what is most surprising, is that unlike many in the US, Trump’s China fanclub sees through the bluster. Gu dismisses Trump’s anti-China rhetoric as political theater, and says he’ll tone it down should he be elected.
“I think normal people will be like goldfish and have three-second memories,” said Gu. “Three months after the election, no one will remember …read more
Source: Meet Donald Trump’s Chinese Fan Club
