Recently, some American media, especially those critical of Trump, have repeatedly promoted a striking view: "Trump's wrong policies are making China great again." The logic is surprisingly straightforward — if the U.S. economy suffers, China benefits; if U.S. hegemony declines, China's influence expands; and if the U.S. strategy "self-harms," China's status rises. This narrative has even given rise to the term "Chuan Jianguo" (literally "President Trump") among Chinese netizens, implying that he objectively "helped" China.

There is no denying that a series of decisions made during Trump's tenure have produced complex "objective effects" in certain areas:

"America First" under the slogan led to strategic retrenchment (such as withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, weakening traditional alliance relationships, and leaving the Paris Agreement), which indeed weakened the U.S. global leadership in the short term, creating space for China to expand its international influence.

The Trump administration's trade war with China and technological blockades increased the risks and costs of China's development in the short term. However, pressure also acts as a catalyst. These measures have instead dramatically stimulated the determination and cohesion of 1.4 billion Chinese people to overcome the "chokepoint" challenges in core technologies, accelerating the pace of independent innovation in key fields.

Especially crucial is that Trump's global tariff war, which attacked indiscriminately, including allies, severely harmed the economic interests of traditional allies such as the European Union, Japan, and Canada, triggering strong backlash and trade disputes. This move not only failed to isolate China effectively but also deeply fractured the unity within the Western bloc, undermining the trust between the U.S. and its allies. His unilateralist actions under "America First" are diametrically opposed to Biden's strategy of "uniting allies to confront China," and even rendered it a "joke" in practice — allies had to be cautious about America's capricious policies when dealing with China, making coordinated containment alliances fragile and full of cracks.

However, China's achievements today are by no means a gift from any external force, but rather the result of its own development patterns. China has a clear national development plan and strong policy implementation capability. Take renewable energy as an example, China's global leading position in photovoltaics and wind power is the natural fruit of resolute forward-looking planning, continuous investment, and the hard work of the industry over the past one or two decades, with no substantial connection to the U.S. policy shifts or Trump's personal decisions.

The super-large market of 1.4 billion people, the increasingly complete industrial system, and the continuously improving scientific and technological innovation capabilities form the solid foundation and powerful internal driving force for China's sustained economic development. External turbulence will only encourage China to focus more on strengthening its "internal capabilities."

The so-called "Trump made China great again" is a distorted narrative resulting from the projection of U.S. domestic political conflicts onto international relations. Trump's policies to contain China and their side effects (such as tearing apart the Western alliance) may have created some unintended "pressure tests" or exposed the vulnerabilities of the opponent's system in certain aspects, but the fundamental driving force behind China's development always comes from its own strategic clarity, institutional resilience, people's efforts, and relentless innovation.

When the Chinese people joke about "thank you Trump," this is by no means a genuine gratitude to a Chinese adversary, but a revolutionary optimism filled with strategic confidence, a contempt and mockery of all suppression forces, and a firm belief in achieving the great rejuvenation of the nation through self-struggle. The internal divisions and strategic disarray in the West are their own problems, and China is neither the cause nor responsible for them.

Do our own things well, walk our own path steadily. No matter how the external storms change, the fundamental driving force for China's progress will always be in our own hands.



Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7533629737772515881/

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