Business
‘We Had A Bad Experience’: Chinese Officials Losing Sleep Over Thought Of Dealing With Second Trump Term
From the Daily Caller News Foundation
By Jake Smith
Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials quietly believe that a second Donald Trump presidency would be more dangerous to them than a Kamala Harris administration, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
The Biden-Harris administration’s relationship with Beijing has been marred with tensions in recent years over diplomatic, economic and national security disputes. But Chinese officials would seemingly still rather have Harris win in November over Trump because they worry that the former president will open up another trade war against China, officials told the WSJ.
“Chinese officials and scholars, in private conversations over many months, are largely exceptionally wary of a Trump victory,” Richard McGregor, China expert at the Lowy Institute in Sydney, told the WSJ.
Those worries are largely kept quiet. Publicly, Chinese officials maintain a stance of neutrality toward the U.S. elections. Chinese President Xi Jinping wrote in a letter last week that China had always handled relations with the U.S. with “mutual respect” and said that Beijing “is willing to work with the United States as partners and friends.”
“The presidential elections are the United States’ own affairs,” a spokesman from the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “We hope that whoever gets elected will be committed to growing sound and stable China-U.S. ties.”
Beijing wants whoever the next president is to take a predictable stance toward relations and dial back the U.S.’ tough-on-China stance. Privately, officials felt that standard was better reflected in President Joe Biden over Trump and thought his reelection would be better for China, according to the WSJ.
After Biden dropped out of the race in July, Beijing felt the same about Harris, officials told the WSJ.
“Under Trump, we had a bad experience,” senior CCP diplomat Liu Jianchao bemoaned during a closed-door session with U.S. think tanks earlier in the year.
The concerns of a second Trump term among Chinese officials stem from fears he will launch a second trade war against China, as he did in his first term, according to the WSJ.
Trump issued a sweeping set of tariffs against China during his first term — adding a tax to imports coming in from the country — in a bid to encourage domestic U.S. investment and compel China to buy more American goods.
Xi and those and his orbit became exhausted in trying to maneuver the trade war and Trump’s demands, according to the WSJ. Trump has weighed the idea in his second term to issue a 60% tariff against incoming Chinese goods, which economists at UBS have predicted could mark a 2.5% blow to China’s GDP growth over a year-long period.
Trump has also recently weighed the idea of using the threat of tariffs to deter China from invading Taiwan, even musing that he would completely halt trade relations if the island is taken by force, which has been received extremely poorly in Beijing.
“I would say: If you go into Taiwan, I’m sorry to do this, I’m going to tax you”—meaning impose tariffs—“at 150% to 200%,” Trump told the WSJ in an interview on Thursday.
The Trump and Harris campaigns did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on the federal, Ontario and municipal governments to publicly reject subsidizing a new arena for the Ottawa Senators.
“Politicians need to stand up for taxpayers and tell the Ottawa Senators’ lobbyists NO,” said Noah Jarvis, CTF Ontario Director. “Prime Minister Mark Carney, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe all need to publicly reject giving taxpayers’ money to the owners of the Ottawa Senators.”
The Ottawa Citizen recently reported that “the Ottawa Senators have a team off the ice lobbying federal and provincial governments for funds to help pay the hefty price tag for a new arena.”
The Ottawa Senators said they don’t intend on asking the city of Ottawa for taxpayer dollars. However, the Ottawa Citizen reported that “it’s believed Senators’ owner Michael Andlauer would like a similar structure to the [Calgary] arena deal.” The Calgary arena deal included municipal subsidies.
As of December 2024, the Ottawa Senators were worth just under $1.2 billion, according to Forbes.
Meanwhile, both the federal and Ontario governments are deep in debt. The federal debt will reach $1.35 trillion by the end of the year. The Ontario government is $459 billion in debt. The city of Ottawa is proposing a 3.75 per cent property tax increase in 2026.
“Governments are up to their eyeballs in debt and taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to fund a brand-new fancy arena for a professional sports team,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “If the owners of the Ottawa Senators want to build a fancy new arena, then they should be forced to fund it with ticket sales not tax hikes.”
From the Fraser Institute
By Jake Fuss and Grady Munro
The number of Canadians donating to charity—as a percentage of all tax filers—is at the lowest point in 20 years, finds a new study published by the
Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
“The holiday season is a time to reflect on charitable giving, and the data shows Canadians are consistently less charitable every year, which means charities face greater challenges to secure resources to help those in need,” said Jake Fuss, director of Fiscal Studies at the Fraser Institute and co-author of Generosity in Canada: The 2025 Generosity Index.
The study finds that the percentage of Canadian tax filers donating to charity during the 2023 tax year—just 16.8 per cent—is the lowest proportion of Canadians donating since at least 2003. Canadians’ generosity peaked at 25.4 per cent of tax-filers donating in 2004, before declining in subsequent years.
Nationally, the total amount donated to charity by Canadian tax filers has also fallen from 0.55 per cent of income in 2013 to 0.52 per cent of income in 2023.
The study finds that Manitoba had the highest percentage of tax filers that donated to charity among the provinces (18.7 per cent) during the 2023 tax year while New Brunswick had the lowest (14.4 per cent).
Likewise, Manitoba also donated the highest percentage of its aggregate income to charity among the provinces (0.71 per cent) while Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador donated the lowest (both 0.27 per cent).
“A smaller proportion of Canadians are donating to registered charities than what we saw in previous decades, and those who are donating are donating less,” said Fuss.
“This decline in generosity in Canada undoubtedly limits the ability of Canadian charities to improve the quality of life in their communities and beyond,” said Grady Munro, policy analyst and co-author.
Generosity of Canadian provinces and territories
Ranking (2025) % of tax filers who claiming donations Average of all charitable donations % of aggregate income donated
Manitoba 18.7 $2,855 0.71
Ontario 17.2 $2,816 0.58
Quebec 17.1 $1,194 0.27
Alberta 17.0 $3,622 0.68
Prince Edward Island 16.6 $1,936 0.45
Saskatchewan 16.4 $2,597 0.52
British Columbia 15.9 $3,299 0.61
Nova Scotia 15.3 $1,893 0.40
Newfoundland and Labrador 15.0 $1,333 0.27
New Brunswick 14.4 $2,076 0.44
Yukon 14.1 $2,180 0.27
Northwest Territories 10.2 $2,540 0.20
Nunavut 5.1 $2,884 0.15
NOTE: Table based on 2023 tax year, the most recent year of comparable data in Canada
Generosity in Canada: The 2025 Generosity Index
- Manitoba had the highest percentage of tax filers that donated to charity among the provinces (18.7%) during the 2023 tax year while New Brunswick had the lowest (14.4%).
- Manitoba also donated the highest percentage of its aggregate income to charity among the provinces (0.71%) while Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador donated the lowest (both 0.27%).
- Nationally, the percentage of Canadian tax filers donating to charity has fallen over the last decade from 21.9% in 2013 to 16.8% in 2023.
- The percentage of aggregate income donated to charity by Canadian tax filers has also decreased from 0.55% in 2013 to 0.52% in 2023.
- This decline in generosity in Canada undoubtedly limits the ability of Canadian charities to improve the quality of life in their communities and beyond.
Jake Fuss
Director, Fiscal Studies, Fraser Institute
Grady Munro
Policy Analyst, Fraser Institute
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