The Chinese citizen is following with equal parts of curiosity and apprehension the unfolding of an event as U.S. elections near for 2024. Whispers are mushrooming in controversies over Taiwan, international trade, global conflicts, and how the results might eventually affect the future of Sino-U.S. relationship.
Elderly gather in a park in Beijing to learn some dance, but quite obviously also to talk about the forthcoming election: “It is very much in all of our minds,” says Mr. Xiang, who is now in his sixties. “I am worried that Sino-U.S. relations are getting tense. Peace is what we want.”
The conversation, some few hundred meters away from the residence of the U.S. Ambassador, reflects the larger unease felt in China. While Beijing has made a clamor for stability and peace, the temperatures have run high, mostly on issues of Taiwan and the role of the U.S. in such conflicts as Ukraine and the Middle East.
For some, the issue at hand is choosing which of the candidates to vote for. To a 70-year-old man named Mr. Meng, he believes in casting his ballot for the eventual triumph of Mr. Trump because “Biden starts more wars and more ordinary people dislike him for it.” He was referring to the fact that Joe Biden would support Ukraine against Russia.
While China’s leadership hasn’t made a preferred choice in the U.S. race, state media have resonated concerns about U.S. foreign policy, particularly Biden’s remarks on Taiwan and Ukraine. Some in China, like a young father strolling around the park, fear that tensions could eventually boil over into war. “I do not want my son to go to the military,” he said, fearing that conflicts over Taiwan may be fueled.
Taiwan remains one of the most salient hotspots in U.S.-China relations. For Beijing, Taiwan is a renegade province it has pledged to unify with the mainland, if necessary, by force. Both Biden and Harris have reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to Taiwan’s security, though Trump has reportedly told Taiwan it must “pay” for its defense.
Besides geopolitics, economic factors also bother many Chinese as the relation of the two superpowers has lots of implications for the former. The threat of the new tariffs from Trump troubles the business people, as going trade disputes influence the business climate in China already. Ministers in China have risen against the tariffs introduced by both Trump and Biden, which they believe are a means of thwarting their rise in the economy.
Younger generations in China remain fascinated by U.S. culture, even amid the political and economic rough patches, students like Lucy said. She will turn 18 next year and wants to go to America to study. Still, she is positive about the future of U.S.-China ties. “Ideally, I would hope for more people-to-people exchanges, and that both countries have pledged to increase,” she said. Yet the number of American students studying in China has plummeted in recent years.
As China and the U.S. continue to navigate this complicated relationship, citizens on both sides of the fence remain hopeful for a peaceful future and the ideology that, after all, diplomacy can triumph over war.
