The return of ‘the king of knowledge’

I wonder how the returning “King of Knowledge” will respond.

LEE DO-SUNGThe author is a Beijing correspondent of JTBC. “Is Dong Wang returning?” This was the title of an article by a Chinese economic news outlet on the election of Donald Trump. “Dong Wang” means “the king of knowledge.” As Trump frequently says, “No one knows better than I do.” Chinese internet users made a meme out of his know-it-all attitude. The popular phrase was listed in the encyclopedia of Baidu, China’s largest portal site.

Chinese people are showing keen interest in “the Return of the King of Knowledge.” On Chinese social media network Weibo, #USPresidentialElection had an accumulated views of 1.8 billion in 24 hours, with more than 4 billion comments. Related keywords — such as the transliterations of Trump, President Trump, and Chuan Jianguo, meaning unintentionally helping China with mistakes — all reflect Chinese people’s love and hate towards Trump.

The response from the Chinese authorities is a stark contrast. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted a written statement on its website on Nov. 6 saying that it respects the choice of the American people and congratulates Mr. Trump on his election as president. During a regular briefing that afternoon, the foreign ministry reiterated China’s formal responses to the U.S. presidential election and Trump. State media are refraining from commenting on the election as they want to first calculate what changes Trump’s election will bring.

In the meantime, China swiftly moved underwater. Chinese President Xi Jinping called Trump on the day when Trump declared victory and congratulated him. It is clearly different from the 2016 election, when Xi sent a message instead of making a phone call, and the 2020 election, when Xi congratulated Biden two weeks after the election. The latest phone conversation was first reported by CNN, quoting an official. State media later only reported that Xi had sent a congratulatory message.

China has mixed feelings as the second Trump administration approaches. Trump already vowed to impose a 60 percent tariff on all imports from China. China has to be sensitive about the level of sanctions Trump will impose against China. That’s a huge burden for China as the nation prepares a large-scale economic stimulus package.

It is noteworthy that Xi’s message to Trump included this wording — “Cooperation benefits everyone while a fight hurts everyone.” I wonder how the returning “King of Knowledge” will respond.