BEIJING – People in Beijing expressed doubts Saturday about President Donald Trump’s ability to steer the U. S. economy and manage China-American relations, underscoring concerns over trade, Taiwan and other issues.
While Trump didn’t mention China in his inaugural address Friday, he referred often to the country during the campaign and upended diplomatic protocol after the election by speaking on the phone with the president of self-governing Taiwan, the island China considers its own territory.
Aaron Wang, who works for a logistics company, said he hoped for the best but was wary of Trump’s threat to disrupt commerce between the countries, including imposing a 45 percent tariff on Chinese imports.
“I will wait and see what Trump actually does in the future, but I do hope that the China-U. S. relations can develop in a good direction under Trump’s presidency,” said Wang.
A retired teacher, who would only give her surname, Wei, said Trump hadn’t yet shown that he could handle the U. S. presidency.
“It’s really uncertain whether he can properly run the U. S.,” Wei said. “A business person can run a country very well, but he can also do a very bad job.”
On a visit to Beijing, Dunkin’ Brands CEO Nigel Davis said he wanted to reinforce the importance of global free trade to Trump, who opposes the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership and has suggested he might renegotiate the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement.
