Golez: Trump and Xi similar? As they say, like poles repels each other.
Surprising similarities of Trump and Xi
By Aya Igarashi / Yomiuri Shimbun General Bureau of China Chief Japan TimesIn terms of their profiles, Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump have a lot in common.
Xi, 63, and Trump, 70, were both born in June and have been divorced. Their current wives are both from the celebrity world — Xi’s wife Peng Liyuan was a singer, while Trump’s wife Melania was a model.
What’s more, their political styles are as close as their birthdays, which are just one day apart.
Their overly similar slogans — Xi’s is “The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” and Trump’s is “Make America Great Again” — ignite nationalism in their countries.
By branding their respective political foes in the Chinese Communist Party and the U.S. Republican Party as “resistance forces,” the two leaders have taken a strong hold on the public conscience through a sensational approach akin to “theatrical politics.”
People who are alike do not necessarily get along smoothly. There is also the notion that hatred toward close relatives is stronger than toward other people.
Xi might be looking back nostalgically at U.S. President Barack Obama, with whom he often had differences of opinion, rather than looking forward to Trump.
Xi has met Obama nine times since 2013. In their talks, Xi always brought forward his pet theory of building a “new type of major power relationship” with the United States. Under this, both countries would avoid fatal collisions and respect each other’s “core interests.”
The Chinese side apparently understands Obama has not accepted Xi’s theory, but also understands he has not denied it outright. In an effort to combat climate change, the United States and China took the initiative to put the Paris Agreement into force. Xi could say the accord is a product of their “major power relationship.”
Trump, after winning the U.S. presidential election, suddenly waded in on China’s “core interests.” He agreed to cooperate with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen in a telephone call on Dec. 2 — the first contact between a Taiwan leader and U.S. president or president-elect since 1979, when the United States cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
On another occasion, Trump put more pressure on China by saying the continuance of the “one China” policy, under which Taiwan is considered part of the nation, depends on China.
Will Trump continue to use the business tactic of bluffing to get the most concessions from a trading partner? It is impossible to foresee any change in his political approach.
In any case, Xi likely recognizes Trump as a “formidable opponent,” because Trump chose to touch on the most delicate part of U.S.-China relations first.
If China reacts excessively to Trump’s provocations, the unpredictable president-elect could go to further extremes and cause serious tensions in relations.
Some observers say China’s moves to improve its relations with Japan are a by-product of Trump’s emergence. For example, Xi accepted a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Peru — an apparent effort to reduce the number of variables surrounding China’s foreign policies.
The problem, though, is that Xi cannot be on the defensive forever. Although he was given the special position of “core leader” by the Communist Party, there will be an intensifying power struggle in his second term of office as the leadership reshuffles at the party convention in autumn 2017.
If Xi is seen making concessions to Taiwan or in his diplomacy with the United States, there could be a counteroffensive by the forces that oppose him and a backlash from the nationalism he has inflated.
Trump, who won the applause of white workers — such as by pledging to “restore employment from China” — is in the same boat.
The potential dangers posed by the leaders of the United States and China have the same roots. All eyes will be watching to see what becomes of the chemistry between them.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Dec. 18, 2016)Speech
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