In a strongly worded editorial on Monday, China's official media criticised the rise of Donald Trump in the race to the White House, warning of severe consequences if he is elected US president.
"The rise of Trump has opened a Pandora's box in US society," says the editorial published by the People's Daily and the Global Times newspapers, two mouthpieces of the Communist Party of China.
"Instead of pointing fingers at other countries for their so-called nationalism and tyranny, the US had better watch itself from becoming a source of destructive forces against world peace," it says while underlining Trump's "narcissist and inflammatory" character.
"His job was basically to act as a clown to attract more voters' attention to the GOP. However, knocking down most other promising candidates, the clown is now the biggest dark horse," it added.
It also says the Republican Party is caught between selecting a populist and politically incorrect Trump as its candidate, which would compromise the values of the party, or selecting someone else, which could lead Trump to run as an independent and split the conservative vote.
"Fist fights among voters who have different political orientations is quite common in developing countries during election seasons. Now, a similar show is shockingly staged in the US, which boasts of one of the most developed and mature democratic election systems," the editorial said.
Last Friday, Trump's supporters and rival groups clashed in Chicago.
"The rise of a racist in the US political arena worries the whole world," the editorial said.
