Chinese fans prepare to welcome rich, powerful, ‘free-spirit’ Trump

  • Posted at: 08 Nov, 2017, in World

BEIJING: He may be a divisive figure back home, but U.S. President Donald Trump will be landing in friendly territory when he arrives in Beijing on Wednesday, judging by Chinese social media.On platforms such as the Twitter-like Sina Weibo, Trump’s Chinese supporters, who admire his business success and a free-wheeling style unconstrained by political correctness, are far more prominent than detractors.While no comprehensive survey has been done to assess the size and intensity of Trump’s popularity in China, several pundits suggest he has broad and vocal support.“Chinese people are impressed that he is extremely rich, he loves things splendid and magnificent, and he loves to show off. Not every billionaire is like that,” said Yin Hao, who translates American news and comedy clips for his nearly one million followers on Weibo.Yin said his translated Trump-related video clips sometimes attract thousands of comments, where some supporters engage in name-calling and invective in defending the president.”They will keep posting comments to defend Trump, mock his opponents under all news clips that involve Trump, and rebuke any comments that are not in favor of Trump,” Yin said.Chen Jibing, a Shanghai-based political commentator, said Trump’s Chinese fan base is different than that for previous foreign leaders such as his predecessor, Barack Obama, and for British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who enjoyed widespread but tepid support.“Chinese Trump fans are seriously and truly invested, and you had better not make light of offending them,” Chen wrote in a social media post to his millions of followers. -Reuters


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