Even for everyday people in China, President Trump’s influence looms large.
A steel trader in the southern city of Fuzhou said his business had been depressed by the trade war. A taxi driver in northern China complained that the increase in global gas prices amid the war in Iran meant he had to pay more at the pump.
At a shopping mall in Beijing, Sunny Sun, a woman who was invested in stocks, said she was watching her portfolio, wary of the impact of announcements from the president’s summit with Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader.
“There’s definitely some uncertainty in the market sentiment, because Trump is the kind of person who says one thing today and another tomorrow when he gets back to the United States,” Ms. Sun said. “His words can actually stir up things globally.”
‘Like Stand-Up Comedy’
Some residents were surprised to hear that Mr. Trump was visiting China, but all knew who he was. They cited his attempted assassination, his business record, his refusal to wear face masks during the pandemic, his campaign against Iran, and, of course, his tariffs.
“He’s a rather interesting person,” said Milly Zhu, a 34-year-old who works in film and TV promotion and was walking in a shopping mall in Beijing. “Some of his words and actions, for example regarding China, seem like stand-up comedy to people in China,” she said.
“Our President Xi might be considered, in comparison to Trump, more serious,” she added.
Often, their views were negative. Yang Saixiang, a 47-year old worker at a nail salon in a shopping mall in Fuzhou, said the Iran war had worsened her views and that many Chinese people disliked Mr. Trump.
“He’s not friendly to China,” she said. She said tariffs and the U.S.-China trade war had dampened earnings for her customers, and she questioned why the United States could not simply change presidents. “I think at his age, he doesn’t need to be president anymore,” she said.
‘He’s Quite Brutal’
Peng Shuiming, an 18-year-old hairdresser who sat outside the Fuzhou mall playing games on his phone, said the war with Iran had further soured his opinion on the United States, which was already poor.
“My impression of him isn’t very good; he’s quite brutal,” he said of Mr. Trump.
Mr. Peng said he was indifferent to Mr. Trump’s visit, and that whether China needed the United States was a “matter of choice. I feel China is quite powerful,” he said.
Zhang Lei, a 40-year-old taxi driver in Jinan, Shandong Province, argued that China was already wealthy, with little need for foreign goods, and that it should be more assertive.
“The fact that he’s taking the initiative to visit China means that China can control him, right?” he said of Mr. Trump. “It means that this trade war isn’t just unsuccessful for China, it means that the U.S. is also struggling.”
‘Better to Avoid Tariff Wars’
Some of the negative views of the United States appeared to be based on misinformation circulated on social media. One woman cited a report that beggars in the United States eat human flesh, while Mr. Peng mentioned that his view on the United States had worsened after seeing a report during the pandemic about the United States dumping bodies in the sea.
Others seemed to blame Mr. Trump and the trade war for broader weakness in the Chinese economy, some of which was likely linked to the current real estate downturn, or other reasons.
Chen Gang, a 42-year-old steel trader in Fuzhou, said tense relations between the United States and China were hurting his business. He sells steel to the construction industry, but the sector is shrinking.
“It would be better to avoid tariff wars and just cooperate amicably, without all this back and forth,” he said.
Mr. Chen said that Chinese leaders should be “polite and courteous” to Mr. Trump — at least on the surface. “People say nice things on the surface, but what they really mean behind the scenes is another matter. That’s how it is in business,” he said.
‘We Want to Get Along Well With the United States’
Many expressed hope that the meetings between Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi would set the United States and China on a more stable path. Almost all characterized China as inherently peaceful.
“We don’t want war, we want peace,” Ms. Zhu said. “We want to get along well with the United States, and we want to develop our economy. Only peace can create a better economy.”
In Jinan, the northern Chinese city, Shen Jianmin, a 74-year-old retiree and former farmer who was relaxing in a public plaza on Wednesday, said that Mr. Trump tended to stir up trouble for no reason. But he said the visit was a positive development.
“It’s good that the U.S. is coming to China, right?” he said. “The friendship between the two countries is good.”
“Everyone wants a good life; which ordinary person wants to fight? When you’re constantly at war, it’s the ordinary people who suffer,” he added.
Li You contributed research.
