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China officially 'doesn't care' about Trump win; unofficially, experts say Beijing is rattled

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China officially 'doesn't care' about Trump win; unofficially, experts say Beijing is rattled

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan — The official response from Xi Jinping’s communist China to President-elect Trump’s victory was formulaic.

“Our policy towards the U.S. is consistent,” foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters Wednesday afternoon. “We will continue to view and handle China-U.S. relations in accordance with the principles of mutual respect, peaceful co-existence and win-win cooperation.” 

National Taiwan University Department of Philosophy professor Yuan Juzheng returned to Taiwan from a trip to China on Monday, where, he noted, nearly everyone he met with wanted to talk about the U.S. election. He told Fox News Digital a Trump win is a “worst-case scenario” for Beijing. China experts, as well as Chinese citizens online, believe the next four years under President-elect Trump will almost certainly worsen already strained ties.

During the campaign, Trump made it abundantly clear he would adopt a tariff-based approach to trade with China. Professor Yuan explained that China had “not been prepared psychologically” when, around 2018, President Trump hit huge Chinese companies such as Huawei with tariffs.

TAIWAN REACTS TO TRUMP’S THEY ‘SHOULD PAY US FOR DEFENSE’ COMMENTS

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China’s President Xi Jinping and President-elect Trump. (Getty Images)

But this time around, Yuan says, China knows how much such policies will hurt, and they will come at a time when China’s domestic economy is not doing well. 

“Three key issues will continue to dominate the U.S.-China relationship. They are the three T’s — trade, technology and Taiwan,” Zhiqun Zhu, a professor of political science and international relations at Bucknell University, told Fox News Digital a few hours before Trump’s stunning triumph became official. 

On Wednesday, Taiwan President William Lai wrote on X, “Sincere congratulations to President-elect @realDonaldTrump on your victory. I’m confident that the longstanding # Taiwan – #US partnership, built on shared values & interests, will continue to serve as a cornerstone for regional stability & lead to greater prosperity for us all.” 

Taiwanese Vice President Bi-khim Hsiao, also via X, added, “I join President Lai in offering my congratulations to President Trump, VP-elect Vance, and the American people. Looking forward building a strong Taiwan-US partnership, for freedom, peace, and economic prosperity.”

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The Taiwanese public has had mixed views about the U.S. election. Some here find Trump’s often brash and blunt personality unappealing. One recent poll showed over 50% of the Taiwanese preferred Harris to Trump. However, many Taiwanese have also said they viewed Trump as potentially “better for Taiwan,” mostly due to an expectation that he will take a hard line on China. That expectation is shared on the other side of the Taiwan Strait. 

Ross Darrell Feingold, a Taipei-based lawyer and commentator on local and regional politics, is among a small group of Americans living in Taiwan who are active on TouTiao, a Chinese information platform owned by ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok. With over 150 million daily users, TouTiao could be likened to a hybrid of Facebook and X. 

On the Sunday before the U.S. election, Feingold posted a question on TouTiao that was finally allowed to be published after some rewording due to China’s strict internet controls. 

“As a Chinese person, do you think Trump or Kamala Harris will be more harmful to China-US relations?” he wrote.

ENCIRCLING TAIWAN WAS A SMOKESCREEN FOR CHINA’S REAL GOAL OF CONVINCING US NOT TO INTERVENE, EXPERT SAYS

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75th National Day of the People's Republic of China in Hong Kong

A Hong Kong police honor guard raises China and Hong Kong flags during a ceremony in celebration of the 75th National Day of the People’s Republic of China in Hong Kong on Oct. 1. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)

More than 30,000 people viewed the question, and roughly 5,500 provided a variety of answers that included some direct support for Democratic nominee Harris, whom Chinese netizens have given the nickname “Ha Ha Sister,” a reference to the vice president’s exuberant laughter. 

Feingold, however, noted the near unanimity in Chinese netizens’ comments that the U.S. is hostile toward China and doesn’t wish to see it rise to its rightful place as a global power. 

“Based on the comments I received on TouTiao, the public in China seems to think the U.S. — led by a leader from either party — would seek to restrain China’s growth,” Feingold told Fox News Digital. 

He added that it can be difficult to determine whether internet comments reflect genuine personal opinions or are merely the parroting of ideas from China’s state-run media. Overall, Feingold says, the Chinese public has begun to take American policies personally, interpreting them as being directed at ordinary Chinese people rather than critiques of the governing Chinese Communist Party.

Taipei, Taiwan

Honor guards raise a Taiwanese flag at the Presidential Palace ahead of the National Day celebration ceremony in Taipei, Taiwan. (Reuters/Carlos Garcia Rawlins/File Photo)

Zhu, the Bucknell professor, laid it out starkly in comments to Fox News Digital, saying, “While over 80% of Americans surveyed view China negatively now, the positive Chinese views of America have also dropped. … What is different now than a few years ago is that many Chinese, including liberals in China, have become more critical of the United States… and believe the U.S. is not welcoming Chinese students, tourists and businesspeople.” 

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Zhu noted that some states such as Florida have cut virtually all cultural and educational exchanges with Beijing. 

Japan, which also has a tense relationship with China, offered its congratulations to Trump on Wednesday. Barron’s quoted Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba as saying he hoped the countries’ alliance would move “to new heights” during Trump’s second term. 

NORTH KOREA

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, supervises artillery firing drills in North Korea on March 7. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

In a post on X, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol both congratulated and praised Trump, writing, “Under your strong leadership, the future of the ROK [Republic of Korea]-U.S. alliance and America will shine brighter. Look forward to working closely with you.” 

And despite the views of some that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un would welcome the return of Trump to the White House, there was no immediate official comment from the so-called “Hermit Kingdom.” But North Korea “fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern sea” hours before the U.S. election on Tuesday. 

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Creature Commandos Renewed for Season 2 at Max

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‘Creature Commandos’ Gets Season 2 Renewal at Max



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Trump could face renewed ISIS threat in Syria as Turkey goes after US ally

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Trump could face renewed ISIS threat in Syria as Turkey goes after US ally

Concerns over a resurgence of the Islamic State in Syria remain heightened following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime and an increase in attacks targeting U.S.-aligned Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

President-elect Donald Trump may well face another round against the extremist group as the SDF faces a reality in which it may have to divide its focus between ISIS and threats levied at it by Turkey.

The SDF said five of its soldiers were killed Saturday in attacks by Turkish-backed forces in northern Syria, reported Reuters. 

Anti-regime fighters stand on the roadside as displaced Syrian Kurds drive vehicles loaded with belongings on the Aleppo-Raqqa highway to flee areas on the outskirts of the northern city of Aleppo which were formerly controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), after they were seized by Islamist-led rebels on Dec. 2, 2024. (RAMI AL SAYED/AFP via Getty Images)

TRUMP SAYS TURKEY ‘DID AN UNFRIENDLY TAKEOVER’ IN SYRIA AS US-BROKERED CEASE-FIRE APPEARS TO FAIL

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The attacks came following an apparent collapse in a cease-fire agreement brokered by the Biden administration as the U.S. and the SDF ramp up efforts to counter ISIS. 

National security advisor Jake Sullivan on Sunday told CNN that his “single biggest concern” is the return of ISIS, which was deemed “defeated” in 2019. 

“ISIS loves vacuums,” he said in reference to the extremist group’s use of power struggles in places like North Africa to gain footholds. “What we see in Syria right now are areas that are basically ungoverned because of the fall of the Assad regime. 

“Our goal is to ensure that we support the SDF — the Kurds — and that we keep ISIS in check,” he added.

Syrian Democratic Forces

Comrades attend the funeral of five fighters of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) who were killed in Manbij during clashes with Turkish-backed opposition factions earlier this week, in Qamishli in northeastern Syria on Dec. 14, 2024. (DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

The U.S. has long had to balance its campaign against ISIS in Syria — which it is fighting with the help of the Kurdish coalition forces, despite Turkey deeming the SDF as akin to the terrorist network the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) — with Washington’s partnership alongside Ankara as a NATO ally. 

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“The SDF and the Assad regime were the primary opponents of ISIS,” Bill Roggio, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and founding editor of “The Long War Journal,” told Fox News Digital. “With the former gone and the latter under pressure from Turkish proxies, concerns about the expansion of ISIS are warranted.”

“Turkey wants to destroy the SDF,” Roggio confirmed. “Turkey has the ideal opportunity to destroy the SDF, and it will take advantage of this unique situation. I expect attack[s] against the SDF to increase.”

PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP’S SYRIA DILEMMA: INTERVENE OR LET IT TURN INTO TERROR STATE

The Biden administration has already taken steps to ramp up its campaign against ISIS, hitting more than 75 sites in a significant strike earlier this month on known “ISIS leaders, operatives and camps,” U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed.

A soldier from the US-led coalition gestures towards schoolchildren during a joint U.S.- Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) patrol in the countryside of Qamishli in northeastern Syria Feb. 8, 2024.

A soldier from the US-led coalition gestures towards schoolchildren during a joint U.S.- Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) patrol in the countryside of Qamishli in northeastern Syria Feb. 8, 2024. (Reuters/Orhan Qereman)

The operation coincided with the fall of Damascus on Dec. 8 following a sweeping takeover of Aleppo, Hama and Homs by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which was aided by the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army (SNA).

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In addition, CENTCOM on Thursday killed ISIS leader Abu Yusif aka Mahmud using a precision airstrike in eastern Syria — an area where, according to Syrian news outlets, ISIS has been able to seize weapons depots belonging to the former Syrian military under the Assad regime amid the “chaos.”

SDF forces in an attempt to clamp down on ISIS uprisings captured 18 ISIS terrorists and suspected collaborators on Sunday near the city of Raqqa, which was once an ISIS stronghold, according to ANF News.

The campaign was reportedly done “in cooperation with the international coalition forces,” but CENTCOM has not yet confirmed whether the U.S. was involved. 

photo of us troops in syria training the ypg/sdf

US forces provide military training to members of the YPG/SDF, which Turkey consider as an extension of PKK in Syria, in the Qamisli district in the Al-Hasakah province, Syria on Aug. 18, 2023. The PKK is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Turkiye, and the European Union. (Hedil Amir/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

But concern remains high that the SDF could see its operational abilities divided as attacks from the Turkey-backed SNA coalition forces increase — which could spell trouble for the upcoming Trump administration as it looks to prevent another resurgence of ISIS, while balancing U.S. relations with Turkey, which is further expected to exercise outsized influence over the new Syrian government.

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“We continue to monitor the situation in Syria,” Brian Hughes, Trump-Vance Transition spokesperson said in response to questions from Fox News Digital. “President Trump is committed to diminishing threats to peace and stability in the Middle East and to protecting Americans here at home.”

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Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital director pleads for help before it’s ‘too late’

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Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital director pleads for help before it’s ‘too late’

Israel orders emptying of medical facility with nearly 400 civilians inside, including babies who need oxygen and incubators.

The director of one of Gaza’s last partially functioning hospitals is appealing for help, saying Israeli forces have surrounded the medical facility.

Dr Hussam Abu Safia, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, on Monday urged the international community to act “before it is too late”, calling the situation “horrifying”.

He said obeying an Israeli order to empty the facility would be “next to impossible” because nearly 400 civilians remain inside, including babies who need oxygen and incubators.

“The bombing continues from all directions, affecting the building, the departments and the staff. This is a serious and extremely horrifying situation,” Abu Safia said.

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Outside the hospital in Beit Lahiya, Israeli forces have placed what is thought to be explosives at the gates. Witnesses said an automated guided vehicle delivered boxes with the word “danger” written on them.

Al Jazeera’s Gaza correspondent Tareq Abu Azzoum said the Israeli military has deployed automated remote vehicles called “explosive robots” around the hospital.

“[The robots] are loaded with tonnes of explosives that can lead to the destruction of the neighbourhood,” Abu Azzoum said.

“We’ve seen videos released by some of the medical workers inside Kamal Adwan Hospital showing how the Israeli military has been using these in the vicinity of the hospital,” he added, saying it could be a sign that further escalation might take place in the coming days.

“The Israeli military is systematically trying to exert ultimate pressure on the medical teams by causing severe destruction to the surroundings [of the hospital],” Abu Azzoum said.

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Abu Safia said: “The world must understand that our hospital is being targeted with the intent to kill and forcibly displace us,” adding that the Israeli bombing did not stop throughout Sunday night, destroying homes and surrounding buildings.

“We urge the international community to intervene quickly and stop this fierce assault on us to protect the healthcare system, the workers and the patients within it,” the hospital director said.

Since Monday morning, the hospital has been targeted with bombs in its courtyards and on its rooftop dropped by quadcopters, once again threatening the hospital’s fuel and oxygen supplies, he said.

“The situation remains extremely dangerous and requires urgent international intervention before it is too late,” the doctor said.

Abu Safia made a similar appeal on Sunday, accusing Israel of directly bombing the hospital’s intensive care unit.

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More than 14 months of Israeli attacks have devastated Gaza and displaced almost all of its 2.3 million people. More than 45,000 people, mostly children and women, have been killed in the offensive.

Israel’s genocide against Palestinians started shortly after a Hamas-led incursion inside Israeli territory on October 7, 2023 killed nearly 1,100 people, according to Israeli officials, and about 250 others were taken captive.

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