US President Donald Trump speaks during the daily briefing on the novel coronavirus at the White House on Monday in Washington, DC. Photo: AFP

Amid the still raging COVID-19 public health crisis, US President Donald Trump continues to duck responsibility by underscoring the perpetual, anti-China stereotype. 

Gary Locke, the first American of Chinese descent to head the US embassy in Beijing, was featured in a Trump campaign attack ad that appears to suggest he was a "Chinese official." The ad, released on Thursday, attempts to paint Trump's Democratic presidential rival, former vice president Joe Biden, as being "soft" on China, and Locke is depicted as one of the "Chinese" officials Biden met with.

Obviously, Trump has not changed his campaign tactic of belittling his adversaries by exploiting anti-China discord. His attack on Biden isn't rooted in Biden's competence to run the country but in his alleged "close" relations with China. 

Locke, as a Chinese American with recognized loyalty to the US government, is now a mere chess piece in Trump's campaign strategy. This coincides with his "blame China" game as the president is anxious and eager to find a scapegoat for his failed handling of the pandemic by diverting public attention from the coronavirus crisis to China or anything and anybody that has relations with China. 

Since the COVID-19 started spreading in the US, Trump has tried to steer the discussion and debate over his response toward topics he is most comfortable with. 

Anti-China sentiments and xenophobia are among them. While this happened amid the outbreak, it could have happened any time during his campaign or tenure.  

The Asian American community, especially the Chinese American community, in the US has undergone a tough time since Trump took office. During the current crisis, racism and xenophobia have been inflamed against them, and the US administration just keeps fanning anti-China and anti-Chinese flames whenever it can.  

"Hate crimes and discrimination against the Asian American community are on the rise. And the Trump team is making it worse," Locke wrote after the attack ad was released. 

Resorting to race baiting is now a feature of American election politics and is bound to be short-sighted. US election politics places short-term individual interests above national interests and the interests of the public, and Trump's political manoeuvring is clearly designed to serve his re-election campaign while ignoring the health of people. 

This is the normal state of US politics. Add such factors as interest groups and money politics, and the US election system has little to do with true democracy and only reflects views of elite politicians.

Under such a political climate, the attack on Biden and Locke could have been anticipated. Trump's rhetoric has continuously encouraged conflicts among different ethnicities and even ignited racial animosity, and is aimed at catering to his base, who are mainly middle- and lower-class white people who have little higher education. 

The election campaign will continue despite the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, and Trump will keep throwing out anti-China and racial bombs. Such moves serve his short-term political interests. 

It matters little if Trump is re-elected, or a Democrat enters the Oval Office, racial sentiment in the US won't be overturned anytime soon. Racial conflicts within the US will deepen, and racial hatred will make US society more unstable. 

Trump still has the advantage. He can manipulate the political agenda in the US and steer the election wheel in the direction he desires. 

He can exploit the daily White House briefings to advocate his policies or ideas. Democrats can wait for Trump to make even bigger mistakes, but that's not a satisfying option. 

The coronavirus situation in the US is bad enough now, and Americans can only wait for it to become worse, as their president is busy with the "China bashing" game. This is the very pitfall of the US political system.

The author is an assistant research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn