Wary China braces for Donald Trump’s visit

{"text":[[{"start":8.4,"text":"Through centuries of Chinese history, the emperor’s annual visits to Beijing’s Temple of Heaven were an occasion of prayer for peace, prosperity and a bountiful harvest. "}],[{"start":20.3,"text":"This week, US President Donald Trump is due to visit the famous complex as part of a summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping with hopes of a fruitful outcome again on the line. "}],[{"start":31.75,"text":"In the days running up to the summit, visitors to the temple voiced caution about Trump, who since his second term began just under 18 months ago has launched a trade war against China, escalating tensions between the world’s two biggest economies, and a conflict in the Middle East. "}],[{"start":48.6,"text":"Mao, a 63-year-old retiree from Lu-an in China’s eastern Anhui province, who requested to be identified only by her surname as with many others interviewed, was blunt: “I don’t welcome Trump,” she said. The “lao bai xing”, she added, referring to common Chinese people, “believe he is not reliable”."}],[{"start":68.3,"text":"“The US started so many wars and damaged world peace,” said Qiao, a 32-year-old photographer who was snapping pictures of tourists visiting the temple. “I think China is very strong and I have faith in China,” he added."}],[{"start":81.5,"text":"The wariness contrasts with the buoyant tone struck in the immediate run-up to the visit by China’s officials and state media about the relationship, which is also characterised by the battle to shape the future of AI, tensions over Taiwan and the US-Israeli war with Iran, a major oil supplier to China."}],[{"start":101.1,"text":"China’s foreign ministry on Monday released a video that touted past areas of Sino-US co-operation, from anti-terrorism efforts to the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, as well as US companies that operate in China including Apple and Tesla. Apple’s Tim Cook and Tesla’s Elon Musk are among the more than a dozen US chief executives on the trip. "}],[{"start":123.64999999999999,"text":"The video urged the US to “choose the right course”, warning that the two superpowers could “clash . . . and wear each other down or engage sincerely and in good faith”."}],[{"start":133.79999999999998,"text":"People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, stressed that the US-China relationship “cannot return to the past, but can move towards a better future”."}],[{"start":143.7,"text":"Both sides would want to extend the truce in their trade war agreed in South Korea last year, said Shen Dingli, a Shanghai-based international relations expert, anticipating that Trump probably also wanted China’s help to contain Iran and a commitment from Xi not to attack Taiwan during the Trump presidency. "}],[{"start":162.85,"text":"But he added: “I do not expect the upcoming Trump visit will have a great impact on history. The two countries are deeply suspicious of each other, and they are each working very hard on strategic decoupling.”"}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":174.79999999999998,"text":"Chinese public opinion of the summit has been shaped by state media and state-sanctioned commentators on China’s Weixin and Douyin, short-video platforms that are the main source of information for most people given the country’s strict internet controls."}],[{"start":189.1,"text":"For many, the instability and turmoil engendered by the Trump administration offers a stark contrast to China’s one-party state, which has had the same leader since 2012. "}],[{"start":199.7,"text":"Yu, a 37-year-old bank employee from Anhui, said he viewed the US “more negatively” after Trump first launched the trade war against China in 2017. "}],[{"start":210.1,"text":"“Before that, I thought the US was quite good — that was the mainstream narrative, largely because our media and education have been giving us that impression. Today what we hear is . . . domestic substitution, and decoupling from the US.” "}],[{"start":223.1,"text":"Xue, 38, a visa agent for Chinese visitors to the US, based in Nanjing, said China’s middle class no longer viewed America’s wealth, culture and standard of living as unattainable."}],[{"start":235.75,"text":"“In the 1990s, America seemed almost larger than life to many Chinese people — a model of prosperity that felt out of reach. Today, that image is much weaker than it once was,” he said."}],[{"start":248.65,"text":"“For China’s middle class, life in China is very comfortable . . . Aside from America’s stronger education system, its overall appeal to many Chinese middle-class families has declined significantly.”"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":261,"text":"Across Beijing in Ritan Park, Zhang, a retired worker in his early sixties, was more cautious. Sitting with his flask of tea and a scattering of stamped-out cigarette butts at his feet, he expressed fears that Trump would make demands of China, including seeking Beijing’s involvement in America’s war with Iran."}],[{"start":279.9,"text":"China’s propagandists, he said, had overstated China’s strength and “bragged too much”. The US, he said, might be a “bully” with a “dishonest leader” but it remained “very strong”."}],[{"start":291.54999999999995,"text":"“He’s causing a mess everywhere; this isn’t how a leader is meant to act. American lives are not better with him [in charge],” said another man surnamed Zhang, a retired insurance industry worker."}],[{"start":303.79999999999995,"text":"Zhang, 67, was hopeful that Trump’s visit to Beijing would be “friendly”, but he viewed the trip as a reflection of China’s rise as a global superpower. “China is not weak anymore. Now you come to China to negotiate.”"}],[{"start":319.24999999999994,"text":"Additional contributions by Wenjie Ding in Beijing"}],[{"start":329.94999999999993,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1778716485_7095.mp3"}