The first debate for the presidential elections gives the US president another platform to again blame Beijing for the Covid-19 emergency. Joe Biden, Democratic challenger: In the early days of the health crisis, Trump praised Xi Jinping's "great job". The condemnation of Chinese policies is transversal in the US public debate.
Cleveland (AsiaNews / Agencies) - "We built the greatest economy in history, we closed it down because of the China plague": US President Donald Trump used the stage of the first electoral debate with Democratic challenger Joe Biden Tuesday to launch yet another attack on China, accused of lying about the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
China has been the target of the White House tenant since the 2016 presidential campaign. According to Trump, the manufacturing industry in the United States has been in crisis due to unfair trade practices in Beijing.
The Chinese regime offers subsidies to its exporters, eliminating competition from US companies. The trade war unleashed by the US president led to the signing of a phase one trade deal in January, which has not yet rebalanced the imbalance between the two powers.
Biden retorted that Trump did not act in a timely manner to counter the Covid-19 emergency. He recalls that at the beginning of the pandemic crisis, the president had praised the "great job" and the "transparency" of the Chinese counterpart in containing the spread of lung disease.
Trump responded that the Democratic candidate is not credible when addressing the issue of the Chinese challenge: he claims that Biden is a puppet in Beijing’s hands due to his son Hunter's relationship with a Shanghai investment fund.
The condemnation of Chinese policies has become transversal in the US public debate. Republicans and Democrats in Congress have approved (or are drafting) a series of "anti-China" measures. They address issues such as the protection of human rights in Tibet and Xinjiang, the safeguarding of freedoms in Hong Kong, the protection of Taiwan, the expansion of Beijing into the South China Sea and technological security.