Xinhua News Agency cheers the decline of American leadership
Australia’s Lowy Institute has published the results of its 2018 public opinion poll: 42 percent of the survey respondents said Trump’s presidency is a critical threat to their country — higher than foreign political interference (41 percent) and China’s growing power (36 percent). Only 30 percent of Australians “have either ‘a lot’ or ‘some’ confidence in Donald Trump ‘to do the right thing regarding world affairs,’” while 43 percent are confident about Xi Jinping’s leadership.
Meanwhile, the South China Morning Post points out that while “many foreign nations expressed regret at the United States’ decision to pull out of the United Nations’ top human rights body, the move could be a boon for China as it leaves it with one fewer critic in the group.”
Xinhua News Agency is enjoying all of this: It has published a special feature (in Chinese) on Trump’s “withdrawal from the global community” (推出国际群 tuīchū guójìqún). Simon Rabinovitch, Shanghai correspondent for the Economist, tweeted about it:
Deep irony in some of the actions that China highlights. Take the TPP: America’s departure was a gift for China, reducing the threat of a united front against its trade practices. But now China describes it as an American betrayal of the international community. Win-win, as they say.
