STRANGER NO MORE
Chinese state media has recently portrayed their country as a beacon of true multilateralism and globalisation while criticising what Beijing views as US meddling in global affairs.
The nationalist Global Times tabloid’s editorial page on Friday said Xi’s Brazil trip had injected “precious certainty into the world”, while another article called Washington a “humanitarian disaster creator” in Gaza.
Ja Ian Chong, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore, warned that global institutions were “very likely to be weakened” by Trump.
But his second term is unlikely to yield a grand realignment of traditional Western alliances, with Hameiri pointing to US partners like Japan, Australia and the NATO defence alliance who are “dependent on US technologies when it comes to” security.
“It’s not something you can just replace,” Hameiri said.
Meanwhile, Beijing’s sweeping overseas investments have won few “formal allies”, said Taneja, the Melbourne-based expert.
Trump has picked several longtime China hawks for top jobs in his administration, though some – like Tesla boss Elon Musk – have deep ties to the world’s second-largest economy.
Taneja said “there will always be elements of crisis under Trump”.
But he believed that leaders will be better prepared for Trump this time around.
“He is no longer an unknown quantity.”
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