Ron DeSantis is just a medium-sized version of Trump that China doesn't need to worry about: Chinese state media pundit
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- A commentator at China's state-run Global Times called Ron DeSantis a medium-sized Trump.
- Chinese pundit Ding Gang said DeSantis' China policies are "no different" from Trump's.
- Ding also wrote that, in his opinion, China doesn't need to "worry about the smaller-sized Trumps."
A pundit at one of China's top state-linked media outlets delivered a scathing assessment of Gov. Ron DeSantis on Sunday, calling the Florida governor a medium-sized Trump who poses little threat to China.
"If the real Donald Trump is an L-size candidate, then Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is an M-size Trump," wrote Ding Gang, a foreign affairs columnist for the state-run Global Times.
Ding also compared DeSantis to his one-time mentor, former President Donald Trump.
"If the large-sized Trump did not significantly impact China, there is no need to worry about the smaller-sized Trumps as all they do will only create more noise," Ding wrote in his article.
Ding went on to criticize DeSantis' policies, saying the governor "has yet to offer anything new" in his plans to manage US-China relations.
"His proposals to end China's preferential trade status, ban the export of US intellectual property and prevent US companies from sharing key technologies with China are no different from what Trump has already done and what the Democratic Party's Biden administration is doing," wrote Ding, alluding to the campaign promises made on DeSantis' website.
The Chinese internet has often voiced its support for Trump, albeit with much sarcasm. When Trump was first indicted in March, some Chinese social media users posted memes that hailed Trump as a national hero who's strengthening China by embarrassing the US.
DeSantis has, for his part, tried to be tough on China. In May, he signed a bill banning Chinese citizens from buying land in Florida, citing concerns that Chinese investors have been buying up too much farmland in the state.
Trump has been polling far better than his fellow GOP presidential candidates in spite of his ongoing legal woes. Trump was arraigned at a courthouse in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, where he pleaded not guilty to four charges in relation to the January 6 Capitol riot.
Representatives for DeSantis did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.