News Snapshot:
Way before the chaos in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of US troops prompted global discussions of American decline, the Chinese had already reached that conclusion. When Covid-19 engulfed the United States last year, Chinese media and commentators pointed to the high death toll and claimed that American incompetence in taming the raging pandemic was a clear sign of the country’s downturn. State media outlets described the US as a diminishing and hostile power, with the People’s Daily calling America’s deterioration a matter of time. The Global Times said combined with America’s other problems such as “racial discrimination, social division and...
