Chinese state media Xinhua said the 43-day long US government shutdown presents a “deeper malaise” in the system, a remark analysts say is aimed at casting China’s one-party model in a more favourable light at home.
Xinhua published a commentary on Thursday, November 13 — when US President Donald Trump signed a funding Bill to end the shutdown — sounding alarms of “corrosion of the US political system.”
“While the shutdown’s end brings temporary relief, it also exposes a far deeper malaise: a paralyzed system where partisan confrontation has eclipsed the capacity to govern,” the commentary read.
Manoj Kewalramani, Chairperson of the Indo-Pacific Research Programme and a China Studies Research Fellow at the Takshashila Institution, emphasised that the state media commentary should not be viewed as an official comment from the government.
However, he said the state media’s criticism of the US political system helps Beijing build support and legitimacy at home, while promoting a narrative that undermines confidence in America’s reliability as a global leader.
“At home, highlighting the fissures and failures of the American system is juxtaposed with the efficiency and stability of the Chinese system. So this is a tool for generating legitimacy and support. Internationally, such a narrative is useful to play on the anxieties of other states about the continuity and predictability of American diplomacy,” Kewalramani told CNBC-TV18.
The commentary comes as China moves fast to claim spaces of global leadership that the US has retreated from under Trump’s presidency.
A Financial Times report in July 2025 highlighted that China is actively trying to increase its influence at the United Nations by making financial contributions and increasing the number of Chinese diplomats and representatives, especially as the UN was forced to restructure due to funding cuts from the US.
ALSO READ | China starts work on easing rare earth export rules but short of Trump hopes: Reports
First Published: Nov 13, 2025 8:52 PM IS
