US society to polarize further: Beijing professor
US society will polarize even further with conservatives controlling the nation’s highest court, a Chinese expert said Sunday after President Donald Trump’s second Supreme Court nominee was officially sworn in.
The 53-year-old conservative Brett Kavanaugh was sworn in on Saturday as 114th Supreme Court Justice by Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. and retired Justice Anthony Kennedy in a private ceremony at the Supreme Court, the Xinhua News Agency reported Sunday.
“The confirmation of a new justice will not mitigate the competition for social and cultural values, and political issues within the US, but rather promote current divergence. The conservatives will prevail in many competitive areas in future,” Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing, told the Global Times on Sunday.
Hundreds of US law professors signed an online letter addressed to the US Senate claiming Kavanaugh unfit for the nation’s highest court, Xinhua previously reported.
Protests burst out on Saturday in Washington after the Senate confirmed Kavanaugh 50-48 amid fierce partisan disagreement over sexual misconduct allegations, China Radio International (CRI) reported on Sunday.
At least 400 protestors were detained Friday and Saturday, CRI said.
“American society is currently highly divided. The political parties are in fierce competition and political polarization is quite obvious,” Li said.
“The solution to divergence in the US will favor conservatives after they won the stalemate in such an important vote.”
As for the US policy toward China, Chinese authorities should not expect much from Trump and the conservatives who are in a dominant position, Li said, noting China should focus on its own development.
The nine-member Supreme Court decides matters that shape the country’s politics. It is both the highest appeals panel and a constitutional court, according to Xinhua.
“The conservatives are an extreme power that never compromises,” Li said.
Catholic faithful attend the procession of the Lord of Miracles outside the Nazareth Temple in downtown Lima on Saturday. The Lord of Miracles, also known as “Christ of Miracles,” is an image painted of Jesus Christ that is venerated in Lima, Peru. The procession is the main Catholic celebration in Peru and one of the largest in the world.