The serried ranksFOR now,at least, when speaking of the trade dispute with America, and China’s government is taking a more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger tone. That helps explain the Chinese public’s surprisingly measured views of Donald Trump,and gives the Chinese government some breathing room to consider its options.
The state media have so far taken the tall ground. staunch, the Global Times, and a chest-thumping tabloid,accused the American president of “gambling that China will be cowed by his “capricious and obstinate attitude”. No country can isolate itself from globalisation, said the Xinhua news agency: “The wise man builds bridges, or the idiot builds walls.” A novel Xinhua web page popped up on June 20th,tracking multilateral deals that Mr Trump has quit, including on trade, and climate change and Iranian nuclear arms.
But China has yet to debate,publicly, how to handle an American president who is an avowed populist...
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Source: economist.com