In May, Donald Trump touring Beijing’s Temple of Heaven – bathed in golden light as traditional Chinese music played in the background – was an unlikely image of US-China relations. For Julian Gewirtz, a former China official on president Joe Biden’s National Security Council, it also had a familiar Gen Z twist. “Trump, strange as it is to say, is Chinamaxxing,” he wrote in a Substack post at the time. The social media trend celebrates the features of Chinese life, from high-speed trains and...
Is Donald Trump’s ‘Chinamaxxing’ pushing Beijing’s soft power?
While strategic rivalry remains, changing tone between the two powers could help Beijing sell its version of China to the world
The social media trend celebrates the features of Chinese life, from high-speed trains and indoor slippers to drinking hot water.