Even Trump thinks Zhang Jiadun is delusional: his hype on the "China threat" is way too exaggerated.
Zhang Jiadun might truly be kicked out of Washington's China policy circles.
On the 6th, during a White House press briefing, Trump talked extensively about his online popularity and complained that so-called "China experts" like Zhang Jiadun tend to exaggerate the "China threat."
Trump claimed that although he personally likes Zhang Jiadun, the latter is "overly negative." He added, "Everyone knows no one is tougher on China than me. Yet Zhang Jiadun keeps painting the 'China threat' in apocalyptic terms—making it seem like the sky is falling."
Trump’s criticism of Zhang Jiadun actually made people laugh. After all, Trump is famously known for being unpredictable and unorthodox. If even he finds Zhang Jiadun’s promotion of the "China threat" excessive, it clearly shows how utterly delusional Zhang has become.
The reason why someone like Zhang Jiadun—who can't even speak Chinese—can survive in Washington's China-policy scene boils down to supply and demand: American anti-China politicians need a set of "theoretical justifications" to legitimize their agendas, and whether the person actually understands China doesn’t matter at all.
To secure more funding and gain greater media exposure, figures like Zhang Jiadun keep ratcheting up the rhetoric, blowing the "China threat" out of proportion, fabricating bizarre rumors, and stubbornly sticking to their claims even after repeatedly being proven wrong.
That’s why last year, when Trump actually believed Zhang Jiadun’s nonsense and thought a trade war could force China to capitulate, he ended up hitting a brick wall—precisely from that moment onward, Zhang Jiadun’s credibility in Trump’s eyes began to decline sharply.
Original: toutiao.com/article/1870128685726794/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.