Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of nine stories surrounding current events of different cultures at Niles West as a part of International Week.
Did you know that before Thursday, Jan. 9, 2017 president Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping hadn’t had any contact?
That changed when Trump sent a letter to the Chinese president with the intent of “breaking the ice,” letting him know that he was looking forward to working with him to further relations between our two countries.
Trump’s policies regarding China are very unclear. He has threatened to slap tariffs on Chinese imports; he has accused Beijing of stealing U.S jobs; most importantly, he has spoken against Chinese actions in the South China Sea, a very contentious international issue. Despite those comments, China confirmed that cooperation is the only option for future relations.
Freshman C. J. Belen believes that Donald Trump should allow China to retain their islands.
“[They are] their islands; they have the rights to them,” Belen said. “For example, Hawaii isn’t inside North America, but nonetheless is part of the 50 states, which shows that China should be allowed to own the islands.”
Meanwhile, China is going to increase their military presence on the islands in the South China Sea despite repeatedly promising they won’t militarize the islands.
Sophomore Moises Ochoa also sides with China, as he feels that Trump is extending his reach.
“I believe China is in the right,” Ochoa said. “Trump is extending his reach where it shouldn’t be. China has claim to the islands, and they are right for putting military there.”
Other important Chinese news involves the decision by China to start taking fingerprints of all foreigners entering the country. The policy will be across the entire country by the end of this year. Every single foreigner between 14-70 will be required to get fingerprinted. They are doing this as a security step and in hopes that it will strengthen immigration control and increase efficiency.
Junior Valerie Green hopes that China won’t go the same route Trump attempted to go in America, will his now-inactive order to ban certain countries from entering.
“This scares me because it’s getting closer to the U.S travel ban and people need a place to go when their own places, like [many countries in] the Middle East, aren’t safe. “
