Letters | Are Chinese leaders smiling as Trump gets hounded by the Democrats over Russia?

China’s leadership rules unopposed, while the US leader is dogged by Democrats and the media, despite the Mueller report clearing him of collusion with Russia

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The long-awaited Mueller report could not firmly establish either collusion or obstruction of justice charges against President Donald Trump, but calls for his impeachment have not subsided. Photo: Washington Post

Published: 2:30am, 24 Apr 2019Updated: 4:41am, 24 Apr 2019

China stands to benefit from the ongoing tussle between US President Donald Trump and his political rivals over the question of his alleged collusion with Russia during the 2016 US presidential elections.

Since the full redacted report of Robert Mueller’s investigation on this matter was released last Thursday, there have been calls for further investigation or impeachment of Trump by several of his opponents, despite Mueller’s investigation finding no conclusive evidence that the president colluded with Russia.

A fundamental principle of Anglo-Saxon law – as practised in the US, UK and Hong Kong – is that a suspect is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Yet, some Democrats like Elizabeth Warren and some mainstream US media like CNN are not satisfied that Trump was not found guilty of collusion, but cannot let go of pursuing Trump for alleged misbehaviour.

While I prefer the free press in the US to China’s state-controlled media, some US media like CNN and MSNBC are not doing themselves any favours by being so one-sided in their hounding of Trump, because this damages their image of independence and objectivity.