Gung Hai Fat Choy!

The lunar new year began Tuesday. It’s the Year of the Horse in the Chinese zodiac, which means that for people born in 1954 – including me – and every 12 years after, it’s our year.

Unfortunately for us, and fortuitously for the People’s Republic of China, it’s also another year of Donald Trump.

Trump was actually born in the Year of the Dog, 1946. But like everything else, he interjects himself into everyone’s life with the finesse of a steamroller. So even though people like me should be celebrating, Trump is trying his damnedest to make sure he’s in as many conversations as any single human can.

Why is this fortuitous for China?

Well, for one thing, no American president has – until now – driven steadfast allies running into the arms of either Xi Jinping and any of his predecessors as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party. The crown jewel of this debacle has been Canada’s embrace of China as a trade and political party. 

Thanks to Trump, it’s now as easy to go from Toronto to Beijing as it is to go from Toronto to New York. China recently waived visa requirements for Canadian citizens despite a history of not always being welcoming to those folks. And given the way border crossing has become tougher in North America, a Canadian needs his or her passport to go to either China or the U.S.

Because of Trump’s idiotic tariffs – his tariffs should never be described without the adjective “idiotic” – Canada has now increased its purchases of Chinese raw materials and products, while China has decided that Canadian soybeans taste – if’s that what you do with soybeans – better than ones grown in the 50 states.

In addition, Trump’s determination to stomp out vehicles that don’t run on good ol’ drilled-from-the-ground petroleum, Chinese electric cars will soon find their way into Winnipeg, Sudbury and Halifax. And, unless he’s stupid enough to further restrain Canadian-U.S. ties, Trump will be able to tool on his golf cart at Mar-a-Lago while Chinese-built electric vehicles purr on the streets of Palm Beach.

It’s not just Canada. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer recently returned from a productive mission to Beijing.

So we’re driving – literally and figuratively – our greatest historical allies into China’s sphere of influence. That wasn’t exactly the intention.

I think Trump is fine with China aligning with Japan and South Korea – again, among this country’s best allies since the end of World War II. It’s in line with the vision he shares with Xi and their puppetmaster, Vladimir Putin. 

Asia is China’s sphere of influence. Europe is Russia’s – that’s what the Ukraine war is about. A

And Trump wants control of the Western Hemisphere. That’s what the Greenland nonsense is about. That’s what the Canada as 51st state nonsense is about. That’s what the seizing of Venezuela’s Maduro is about.

But by being Trump, Canada isn’t falling sway to his, um, charm. It’s aligning with the slighted Europeans – including such angry nations as Britain, France and Denmark. And if it benefits Canada with the bonus of pissing off Trump, Prime Minister Mark Carney has shown that he’s all in – or “elbows up” as they say up there.

While there are multiple polls showing how politically weak Trump is in the United States, it’s unrealistic to believe he won’t still be president when the Year of the Sheep rolls around on February 6, 2027.

So fighting his dictatorial willhea (that’s a word my father made up to indicate a craving) is going to take a lot of energy in 2026, it’s what we have to do. It’s what we have to keep doing to save the country we believe in.

Honestly, though, I’m all for making a part of Trump a part of this Year of the Horse.

I’ll give you a guess as to which part.