A state-backed newspaper in China published an editorial Monday critical of the United States' Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, calling him "racist" and claiming that he has thrown the U.S. political system into disarray. Trump has often hit out at China during his campaign speeches, accusing it of "stealing" jobs from the U.S. and deliberately devaluing its currency.
The article, titled "Trump opens Pandora's box in US," which was carried in the Global Times, hit out at Trump while also criticising America's democratic election system.
"Big-mouthed, anti-traditional, abusively forthright, he [Trump] is a perfect populist that could easily provoke the public. Despite candidates' promises, Americans know elections cannot really change their lives. Then, why not support Trump and vent their spleen?" the article read.
Citing Western media's references to Trump as a version of Adolf Hitler and Mussolini, the Chinese daily said: "Mussolini and Hitler came to power through elections, a heavy lesson for Western democracy."
"Even if Trump is simply a false alarm, the impact has already left a dent. The US faces the prospect of an institutional failure, which might be triggered by a growing mass of real-life problems," the editorial said.
The article used a range of harsh adjectives for Trump, from "narcissistic" and "big-mouthed" to "racist" and "extremist."
"At the beginning of the election, Trump, a rich, narcissist and inflammatory candidate, was only treated as an underdog. His job was basically to act as a clown to attract more voters' attention to the GOP. However, knocking down most other promising candidates, the clown is now the biggest dark horse," the Chinese daily stated.
Trump, who has emerged as the front-runner among Republican candidates, has criticised China over its economic policies and has even said he will consider a 45 percent tariff on Chinese exports to the U.S. if elected.
"The only power that we have with China is massive trade," Trump had said, according to the New York Times. He had also called China the "number one abuser" of America.
