CHINA/MEDIA/SOCIAL MEDIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “To the long list of reproachful replies to President Trump’s social media commentary, add an editorial from a Chinese state media outlet, which called his recent tweets on China ‘messages from some alternative universe.’ The China Daily, an English-language state-run publication, said in the editorial published late Thursday [8-30-18] that presidential tweets accusing China of hacking Hillary Clinton’s emails were an effort to ‘divert public attention from the troubles the White House has become mired in.’ Chinese state media have generally been reticent about personally criticizing Mr. Trump over growing frictions between the two countries, including the trade war. But in recent days, China’s English-language state media outlets, which are aimed at overseas audiences, have grown more strident in their mockery of the president and his policies. Last week, the China Global Television Network, an English-language affiliate of the state broadcaster, released a video that sarcastically thanked Mr. Trump for inadvertently encouraging multinational companies to invest in China and forcing the country to develop its own homegrown industries.”
–Austin Ramzy, “China’s State Media: Trump Tweets Come From an ‘Alternative Universe’,” The New York Times online, August 31, 2018