Donald Trump, the Republican Party billionaire shooting for presidential candidacy, has been apparently discounted as not “mainstream” by a Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman.
Known for his bombastic, force-of-personality rhetoric and hardline stance on foreign affairs, Trump has strongly opposed the recent Aug. 12 devaluation of the yuan and other perceived injustices committed by the Chinese regime to the detriment of the United States.
“I’ve been telling everybody for a long time: China’s taking our jobs,” Trump said, according to a report by Politico. “They’re taking our money. Be careful. They'll bring us down.”
Trump has repeatedly criticized the Chinese regime’s devaluation of the yuan, saying that “they have manipulated their currency to such a point that it’s impossible for our companies to compete,” as reported by CNN.
Currency devaluation gives a country’s exports an advantage in international markets by making them cost comparatively less.
When a reporter asked Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying about her government’s stance on Trump’s rhetoric, she responded obliquely, not naming the mogul directly but suggesting that his opinions carry little currency in U.S. society.
“Everyone has the right to air his or her personal opinion, but it is the policies towards China adopted by the US government and the mainstream opinion of the U.S. people that we value more,” Hua said at a press conference, according to the official website of the Chinese foreign ministry.
“I am not quite clear about the criticism made by certain people in the U.S. against China,” Hua said in response to one of the reporter’s questions.
Hua reiterated that Sino-U.S. relations remained amiable despite “disturbances,” Reuters reported.
