The Washington Post quotes Donald Trump as saying that China’s current leader, Xi Jinping, is “probably the most powerful” leader China has had in a century.
American presidents have a habit of describing their Chinese counterparts in terms of awe.
A fawning Richard Nixon said to Mao Zedong that the chairman’s writings had “changed the world”.
To Jimmy Carter, Deng Xiaoping was a string of flattering adjectives: “smart, tough, intelligent, frank, courageous, personable, self-assured, friendly”.
Bill Clinton described China’s then-president, Jiang Zemin, as a “visionary” and “a man of extraordinary intellect”.
Source: The Economist
