Empires of Tedium

親敵背盟戰無休
天選之子有奇謀
川皇如今罵不得
像是明日蒞神州

Enemies embraced, allies betrayed, endless war;
The Chosen One plots and plans very much more.
Careful though — cuss not this Emperor Trump!
— tomorrow he lands on this Holy Land’s shores.

trans. Linda Jaivin with GRB

Lines from Dasheng Liu Chan’s tongue-in-cheek poem about US President Donald Trump’s imperial progress, a welcome diversion from a disastrous war. The calligrapher notes that his doggerel verse was inspired by an official ban on online criticisms of the American head of state for the duration of his China trip.

Liu Chan’s poem is included in The Other China, Xi Jinping’s Empire of Tedium and Contra Trump. My thanks to Linda Jaivin for turning her poetic hand to helping me render Liu Chan’s burlesque verse.

— Geremie R. Barmé
Editor, China Heritage
13 May 2026

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