Pakistan jittery about Donald Trump's Islamic radicalism comment

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump's inaugural speech promised "America first" policy, but offered no specifics about America's place in the world.

The billionaire businessman and reality television star - the first president who had never held political office or high military rank - promised to stir a "new national pride" and protect America from the "ravages" of countries he says have stolen US jobs.

"This American carnage stops right here," Trump declared. In a warning to the world, he said, "From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this moment on, it's going to be America first."

Here is a look at some reactions from Pakistan and China:

Pakistan worries about Muslim comments

A group of retired government officials gathered after morning prayers for a walk in a sprawling park in the heart of the federal capital of Islamabad and the topic of their conversation was President Trump's inaugural speech.

They expressed concern that Trump would target the Islamic world, particularly Pakistan, because of his campaign rhetoric about Muslims as well as his inaugural speech in which he promised to eradicate Islamic terrorism worldwide. Pakistan has often been accused of harboring militant insurgents and declared terrorist groups that have targeted neighboring India, against whom Pakistan has fought three wars, as well as Afghanistan. Pakistan denies the charges.

"Likely there is more trouble in store for the Islamic world and our country will take the most brunt of the harsh treatment from President Trump administration," said Mohammad Afzal.

His sentiments were echoed by Shafiq Khan, who said "the one main thing that the new president mentioned about the world outside America is to tackle Islamic radicalism and that should be the matter of concern for all of us."

Amanaullah, a school teacher in Islamabad, feared Trump's reference to eliminating radical Islamic terrorism. "I think under this name he wants to malign and eliminate Islam," he said.

Umair Khan, an engineer, said of Trump: "Let him taste the burden of government and get settled, I am sure he will calm."

China braces for trouble ahead

People in Beijing expressed doubts on Saturday about President Donald Trump's ability to steer the US economy and manage China-American relations, underscoring concerns over trade, Taiwan and other issues.

While Trump didn't mention China in his inaugural address Friday, he referred often to the country during the campaign and upended diplomatic protocol after the election by speaking on the phone with the president of self-governing Taiwan, the island China considers its own territory. Aaron Wang, who works for a logistics company, said he hoped for the best but was wary of Trump's threat to disrupt commerce between the countries, including imposing a 45 percent tariff on Chinese imports.

"I will wait and see what Trump actually does in the future, but I do hope that the China-US relations can develop in a good direction under Trump's presidency," said Wang. A retired teacher, who would only give her surname, Wei, said Trump hadn't yet shown that he could handle the US presidency.

"It's really uncertain whether he can properly run the US," Wei said. "A business person can run a country very well, but he can also do a very bad job."  On a visit to Beijing, Dunkin' Brands CEO Nigel Davis said he wanted to reinforce the importance of global free trade to Trump, who opposes the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership and has suggested he might renegotiate the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement. "I will give him concrete examples and talk to him about how you can overcome obstacles," Davis told The Associated Press.

China is the world's second-largest economy behind the US, and Trump railed during his campaign against alleged Chinese cheating at trade and manipulation of its currency. Those assertions came despite evidence that for the past couple of years, China has been intervening in markets to prop up its currency, not push it lower in a manner that would benefit exporters to the detriment of US businesses.

China's economy slowed over the past year and exports fell back into contraction last month, signaling renewed weakness as it faces possible trade tensions under Trump. However, China still sells considerably more to the United States than it buys, resulting in a trade deficit in goods amounted to $289 billion through the first 10 months of 2016. A Chinese state-run nationalist tabloid, the Global Times, said President Trump's inauguration speech indicates that the US and China would inevitably face trade tensions. The newspaper said in a Saturday commentary following Trump's inauguration that "dramatic changes" lay ahead for the US and the global economic order.

"Undoubtedly, the Trump administration will be igniting many 'fires' on its front door and around the world. Let's wait and see when it will be China's turn," it said.

The paper noted that Trump blamed foreign trade policies for failing to put "America first," and said trade tensions between the US and China seemed "inevitable within the four years ahead."