BBC Chinese recently reported that Zhang Jun, a high ranking official in the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, commented on the potential world leadership vacuum after the U.S. election. Zhang made these comments after Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke at the Davos Forum in Switzerland where he emphasized the importance of globalization and after U.S. President Trump reconfirmed his “America First” policy. Zhang suggested that, if China is asked to lead the world, then China will take the responsibility. He added that China’s willingness to play a leadership role only resulted from the fact that the current world leader is giving up. Zhang explained that China is currently the second largest economy in the world and that many other countries are developing a major dependency on it for growth. He expressed his happiness on hearing about U.S. President Trump’s planned a four percent U.S. growth projection. However, Zhang pointed out that this growth goal cannot be realized if the United States keeps waging trade wars. Many western analysts are worried about Trump’s nationalist and populist rhetoric.
Source: BBC Chinese, January 23, 2017
http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/chinese-news-38718982