Entertainment
Beijingers shrug off Trump tariff threat
Residents of China’s capital city expressed indifference and defiance on Saturday when asked by AFP about the latest threat by US President Donald Trump to impose blistering new tariffs on the country.
On Friday, Trump announced suddenly that the United States would slap additional 100% tariffs on all Chinese imports from November 1 “or sooner”, also calling into question an upcoming meeting with President Xi Jinping.
Chinese authorities have yet to publicly respond on the threat, which Trump said was in retaliation for Beijing’s new export control measures in the strategic rare-earth sector.
The ministries of foreign affairs and commerce did not comment when asked about it by AFP on Saturday.
“I felt nothing when I first saw the news,” said Liu Ming, a 48-year-old employee in a software company, outside a large Beijing shopping mall.
“Trump always has these childlike or capricious policies,” said Liu.
“China isn’t afraid of any US sanctions or policies aimed at limiting us. We have the confidence and ability to do better ourselves.”
‘Great commotion’
Like others interviewed by AFP on the streets of Beijing on Saturday, Liu sees Trump as fickle.
“From the perspective of a Chinese person, he is a bit unreliable,” he said.
“He always goes from this policy to that policy, causing great commotion in the world.
“It is not stable.”
Irene Wang, an insurance worker in her thirties, echoed the sentiment.
“He says one thing today, but maybe after a nap he’ll change his mind again,” joked Wang.
“At his age (79), he should be a little more composed!”
She believes the sky-high tariffs Trump is threatening could backfire.
“For Americans, it could have an impact,” she said, as tariffs on Chinese products could drive up prices in the United States.
As for the potential impact on people living in China, Wang acknowledged she couldn’t completely ignore the news.
“Honestly, it isn’t the first time, so we will have to wait and see how things play out.”
Hoping for ‘normal’
Some residents of the Chinese capital told AFP they expected only a moderate impact on their country’s economy if the trade war with Washington escalates again.
“The import-export sector, especially those businesses, will inevitably be affected to some extent,” said Jesicca Yu, 40.
But “for ordinary people in China, in the immediate future, I don’t think much will change in their daily lives,” she said.
Yu also bemoaned the tense relationship between Beijing and Washington.
“The more peaceful things are, the more economic development can take place,” she said.
“We hope things go back to normal.”
Lisa Liu, a colleague of Yu who is in her thirties, said she saw one good thing in Trump’s unpredictable approach to governing.
“He gives us a lot to talk about at the dinner table,” she said.
Pamela Anderson has revealed she cut her Golden Globes night short after feeling ‘weird’ about being seated close to Seth Rogen.
Rogen is one of the producers behind Hulu’s Pam & Tommy, the dramatized series about her life that she never approved.
Speaking on Andy Cohen’s SiriusXM podcast, Anderson explained, “He was in the pit at the Golden Globes, so we were close.
To her it felt weird to see him after the release of the show that told the story of the ‘worst time’ of her life.
The 58-year-old actress admitted the moment stirred emotions she thought she had moved past.
“I may have just felt like, ‘I’m not chopped liver over here.’ I felt a little bit weird about it. And I felt like, you know — I’ve been so busy working. I’ve done five movies in the last year. So, I’ve just been busy, but sometimes it hits you and you feel kind of down,” she said.
“I don’t know. It just felt a little yucky. But eventually, hopefully, he will, maybe he’ll reach out to me and apologize. Not that that matters,” Pamela continued.
Anderson added that while she considers herself “free game” as a public figure she believes Pam & Tommy crossed a line.
“Your darkest, deepest secrets or your tragedies in your life shouldn’t be fair game for TV series.”
The Hulu series, starring Lily James as Anderson and Sebastian Stan as Tommy Lee, revisited the couple’s whirlwind 1995 marriage and the infamous leaked sex tape that defined much of Anderson’s career.
While director Craig Gillespie defended the project as an attempt to “change the narrative” and portray the couple empathetically, Anderson has consistently voiced her discomfort with the dramatization.
Sophie Turner, actress who is best known for her role in Game of Thrones, has stepped into the iconic role of Lara Croft for upcoming Tomb Raider series on Prime Video.
Amazon MGM Studios recently released first image from the series to mark the start of filming and it quickly sparked buzz online, getting mix reactions debate among fans.
Sophie leads the big cast that includes Sigourney Weaver, Jason Isaacs, Martin Bobb-Semple, Jack Bannon, John Heffernan, Bill Paterson, Paterson Joseph, Sasha Luss, Juliette Motamed, Celia Imrie and August Wittgenstein.
In the show, Lara Croft travels the world on thrilling adventures, solving puzzles and seeking treasures just like in the games.
However, fans shared their different reactions to the first look, with one saying: “It’s giving Halloween shoot sorry,” while other penned, “Go girl give us nothing.”
Another echoed, “Sorry, but Angelina Jolie is and always will be my Lara.”
They appeared to be unsure about her styling if Sophie looked tough enough, while others praised the costume and thought tat it stayed true to the games.
For the unversed, Tomb Raider is created, written and executive produced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who co-showruns with Chad Hodge.
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