China Has 2 Biting Words for the Departing President

On Donald Trump's final day as president, China stopped biting its tongue. As the Wall Street Journal reports, the country's top officials and leading state-media outlets largely refrained from directly criticizing Trump as relations between the two countries soured over trade and the COVID-19 pandemic. On Wednesday, the government-run Xinhua News Agency let 'er rip in a four-word tweet that declared, "Good Riddance, Donald Trump!" The tweet linked to a Xinhua article from Saturday that was similarly titled, "Good riddance, Trump administration and its final madness." The piece opened: "The final scene of a preposterous show performed by certain US politicians appears on stage this weekend in Washington, showing that there is no limit on their ignorance and prejudice in containing China's development."

USA Today reports Joe Biden may enter the fray on rocky footing in terms of diplomatic relations. Though his campaign hasn't shied away from saying that what is happening to China's Uighur population is genocide, outgoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's Tuesday determination that it is indeed "genocide" is "a more diplomatically sensitive allegation [that] has drawn a strong rebuke from China," per the paper. Indeed, the Journal reports that a Chinese Foreign Ministry rep was on Wednesday asked if Pompeo would be missed. Her biting reply: "Of course. He has given us a lot of joy. Every day we're all watching a big show. But I think that the damage he has caused to himself and the US, in terms of national image and prestige, is hard to remedy." (More President Trump stories.)