Taipei, Taiwan — The news of U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to end his re-election campaign quickly became a trending topic on Chinese social media platforms Monday.
In a statement released on Sunday afternoon U.S. time, Biden announced his decision to not run for a second term and vowed to focus his energy on fulfilling his duties as president.
So far, the Chinese government has remained tight lipped about the decision. At a regular press briefing on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning declined to comment, and said the “presidential election is an internal affair of the United States.”
Online, however, the entry “Biden withdrew from the election” attracted more than 400 million views on the China’s microblogging site Weibo and tens of thousands of comments.
Other topics went viral as well. Topics such as “Zelensky respects Biden’s decision to withdraw from the election,” “Harris praised Biden,” and “Trump thinks Harris is easier to beat” were all in the top 20 searches Monday on Weibo, which is similar to the social media site X.
Several major media outlets in China, including the state-run Xinhua News Agency, People’s Daily, and the Global Times, covered Biden’s withdrawal from the race extensively.
Many Chinese netizens expressed the view that Biden’s decision ensures that Trump will win the election in November while some said things have suddenly changed for Ukraine, referring to Trump’s repeated criticism of U.S. military aid to Ukraine. “Tonight will be a sleepless night for Zelensky,” Chinese netizen “Yo-Huai-To-Bi” from northeastern Shandong province wrote on Weibo.
Other Chinese netizens argued that the United States will continue to compete with China and try to contain the country’s rise regardless of who wins the election in November.
“We shouldn’t be too happy about this news because Trump will likely continue Biden’s strategies toward China and he might roll out harsher measures,” a netizen called “BIGTREE33” from China’s southeastern Fujian Province wrote on Weibo.
Some Chinese commentators said the Democratic Party will have very little chance of winning the presidential election in November without Biden.
“No faction in the Democratic Party can rebuild a campaign that can challenge Trump within a short time, so after Biden withdrew from the race, the Democrats will return to a very divided situation,” Jia Min, an affiliated researcher at Shanghai Development Research Foundation, told Shanghai Morning News in a video.
Hu Xijin, the former editor-in-chief of China’s state-run tabloid Global Times, wrote on X that whoever becomes the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate will make little difference to the presidential race in November.
“Because Trump’s personality is so outstanding, American voters are now divided into two groups: Trump lovers & Trump haters,” he wrote, adding that November’s election will be a choice between Trump or “anyone.”
Harris vs. Trump
After Biden endorsed U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris to be the presidential candidate for the Democratic Party and Harris vowed to win the Democratic Party’s nomination, the entry “Could Harris defeat Trump” quickly became a trending topic on Weibo.
More Chinese netizens seem to believe Harris has very little chance of beating Trump in the presidential election. “If Hillary Clinton couldn’t beat Trump back then, Harris would just be a joke,” a netizen named “Falling in Love with Jia-tze-hu” from Shandong Province wrote on Weibo.
Some Chinese analysts said Harris lacks the experience and achievement to serve as the next president of the United States.
“Looking at Harris’s overall track record, her performance as vice president has not been particularly outstanding, and she has not achieved satisfactory results,” Sun Chenghao, a fellow at the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University, told Chinese online media outlet the Paper.
Beijing-Washington rivalry to continue
While Biden’s decision to pull out of the presidential race will likely shape the development of the U.S. presidential election, some analysts say the Chinese government may think that these developments won’t change the fact that Beijing and Washington are engaged in an intense competition.
“Beijing’s view is that the U.S. and China are in this rivalry, and it will continue no matter who runs in the election,” Ian Chong, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore, told VOA by phone.
Other experts say the Chinese government may not have clear expectations about how different candidates may focus on issues related to China.
“Despite being the vice president, Harris hasn’t said that much on foreign policy, especially compared to the known track records of both Biden and Trump,” said Timothy Rich, a political scientist at Western Kentucky University.
“So, a known Trump, however erratic, may be easier [for Beijing] to prepare for than Harris,” he told VOA in a written response.
If November’s election becomes a race between Trump and Harris, Rich thinks a potential Trump victory would mean more tariffs on Chinese commodities and a more explicit view of trade as a zero-sum game. A potential Harris administration, he adds, may adopt a more nuanced approach to address Washington’s trade relationship with China.
On the issue of Taiwan, Rich said the fact that the Republican National Committee excluded Taiwan from the party platform may suggest Trump is “thinking transactionally about how cutting off support for Taiwan could lead to some big trade agreement with China.”
“In contrast, I can’t see a Harris administration deviating on support for Taiwan much from her predecessor,” he told VOA.
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