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U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris became a trending topic on Chinese social media, with users betting her bid for the Democratic presidential ticket would return Donald Trump to the White House.<\/p>\n
The American election dominated the top four slots of China\u2019s X-like Weibo platform early Monday, as China awoke to President Joe Biden\u2019s departure from the 2024 race. The \u201cBiden exit\u201d hashtag had been viewed 370 million times by noon, while the \u201cHarris praising Biden\u201d topic garnered some 57 million hits.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes this mean Trump is set to win?\u201d one user\u00a0asked<\/a>, as Chinese citizens tried to parse what the switch-up meant for the world\u2019s No. 2 economy. \u201cThe Democratic Party has become the first to prepare for 2028 US elections. The future is promising,\u201d another Weibo user\u00a0quipped<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n While Harris briefly\u00a0met<\/a>\u00a0with President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Thailand in 2022, she hasn\u2019t visited China as vice president meaning Chinese citizens are less familiar with her. That contrasts with California Governor Gavin Newson who last year\u00a0brought<\/a>\u00a0a more dovish message to Beijing on a trip that won applause in the Asian nation.<\/p>\n An online poll of 12,000 Weibo users on Monday found that nearly 80% now believed Trump would beat Harris in the November race,\u00a0according\u00a0<\/a>to results posted by the Shanghai-based\u00a0Morning Post<\/em>\u00a0at midday, some five hours after the question was first posed.\u00a0<\/p>\n Images of a bloodied Trump defiantly waving his fist seconds after being shot swept Chinese social media earlier this month. That brush with death appeared to have bolstered the popularity of the former president\u2014who started a trade war with Beijing when last in the White House\u2014with citizens praising his political instincts.<\/p>\n \u201cTrump is set to win!\u201d wrote one Weibo user in a post that had 14,000 likes and called the now-iconic photograph \u201cperfect.\u201d<\/p>\n State media outlets including the\u00a0Guangzhou Daily<\/em>\u00a0highlighted Harris would be the first American president with Asian descent if she wins the tight November race. But few reports mentioned the policy implications of her possible administration for China.<\/p>\n \u201cHer China policy during the election will probably extend from the usual ideologies of the Democrats,\u201d said Tang Xiaoyang, chair of the international relations department at Tsinghua University. \u201cBut in the short term she won\u2019t likely develop a very targeted strategy on China.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n CEO Daily provides key context for the news leaders need to know from across the world of business. Every weekday morning, more than 125,000 readers trust CEO Daily for insights about\u2013and from inside\u2013the C-suite. Subscribe Now<\/a>.<\/div>\n<\/div>\nRecommended Newsletter:<\/strong><\/p>\n