Over the last few weeks President Donald Trump has spoken put on many issues and these have had reactions from overseas. Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto cancelled a visit to the White House due to the executive order on the #border wall and about Mexican migrants in the United States and now other comments have had their reaction from world leaders.
China
Following recent comments on a proposed $54 billion dollar increase to the budget of the American armed forces and plans to increase the number of nuclear weapons Russian politicians made generic comments about the plans, but another superpower has announced even more concrete steps in reply to the proposals.
Over the weekend the nation with the biggest arms budget after the United States made known its official reaction to the Oval Office’s proposals.
In reports from the BBC, CNN and other news agencies the Chinese government announced a 7% increase on its already high military spending for 2017. According to these reports the figure is official, but may in fact be higher than that announced.
Chinese plans for military expansion and its construction of artificial islands on the South China Sea, apparently for use as forward military bases have worried not only America’s Asian allies, but the United States itself which recently sent a naval flotilla in the area led by the Nimitz class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson.
These increases are a clear reaction to President Trump’s announced plans, but another announcement from an unexpected source highlighted even more that even friendly foreign governments have not appreciated the changes in direction in the United States since the Inauguration on January 20th.
European visas
On Friday March 2nd the European Parliament voted to reintroduce visas for American citizens wishing to visit the Old Continent.
While the issues that led to the decision are long standing, the recent change in regulations about Moslems entering the United States and difficulties even for with visitors of other nationalities has pushed the Parliament to direct the European Commission to remove the waiver on American citizens visiting the continents.
In fact, in recent weeks New York tourism officials have reported fears that this year there may be a decrease of as many as 300,000 visits to the Big Apple in reaction to recent developments in American politics.
To rub salt into the wound for Washington the European Commission extended the visa waivers to citizens of the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. A clear sign of the times.
Attacks
These reactions together with reports of attacks on Indian citizens in the United States in 10 days by people yelling “Get out of my country” as happened in Kansas where one victim died and also over the weekend at Seattle have raised fears of a wave of hate crimes against foreign citizens in the country.
These incidents should raise awareness in the White House of the power of the language used by any President. It can only be hoped that message of the consequences of the President’s language is understood and without too high a price for the country and its relations with other countries.
