Chinese state media were quick to declare the decline of the United States as protests throughout the country highlighted social divisions and overshadowed the pageantry of a large military parade in Washington on the weekend.
The three-hour parade on Saturday was the first in the US in decades and staged to mark the 250th anniversary of the US Army. The event also coincided with the birthday of US President Donald Trump.
But as soldiers and tanks were rolling past Trump in Washington, protesters were out in force across the nation in opposition to the president’s policies.
In China, some state media and online commentators declared Trump’s “America first” policy a failure in light of the mass demonstrations, saying the contrast with the parade reflected the United States’ “uncertain future”.
“The parade reflects [Trump’s] urgency to proclaim that ‘America is great again’ … Yet, no matter how it’s staged, it only reinforces the sense that the halo of the United States is fading, and its deep-rooted institutional problems remain unresolved,” state-run Beijing Daily said in a commentary.
“Instead, it evokes deja vu of ‘the setting sun’s afterglow’ and ‘a past that cannot be reclaimed’.”
Chinanews.com, another state-run outlet, said the day symbolised how “democracy is struggling in the mud”.