‘Bought it for fun’: Trump Buddha statue popular on Chinese e-commerce platform

India — A Chinese e-commerce platform has listed a unique statue of former US president Donald Trump sitting in a zen-like position that is more readily associated with Buddha, the philosopher and religious teacher who founded Buddhism. The seller has labelled the statues as “Trump, who knows Buddhism better than anyone,” in an apparent dig at the twice-impeached former president who frequently targeted China over coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak.

The small version of the Trump Buddha statue, which measures 1.6 metres in height, is priced at 999 Chinese yuan (around Rs. 11,180) on Taobao, the e-commerce platform owned by Alibaba. A larger version of the statue, 4.6 metres tall, is available for 3,999 yuan (around Rs. 44, 770). According to a report by The Guardian, Trump is a popular source of merchandise on Taobao where customers can purchase Trump facemasks, models, little statues, hats, and socks.

China’s state-owned Global Times first reported on the statue and spoke to the furniture-maker, based in Xiamen, Fujian province, who is promoting the statue with the slogan “Make your company great again!”. The seller told the Global Times that they made 100 statues and dozens of them are already sold, noting that “most people just bought it for fun.”

“I bought it for fun and put it on my desk at home as a decoration. Trump can also be regarded as a representative of an era, and extreme egoism. Now the era has passed but I want the statue to remind me: Don’t be too Trump,” an unnamed buyer was quoted by Global Times as saying.

A craft website Etsy is selling novelty gifts of 3-D printed “Trump laughing Buddha” where the seller says it is “not intended to stir up anything political”. “In fact, this Laughing Buddha mashup is simply a reminder that, no matter where we fall in the political spectrum, we could all use a little more laughter and joy in our lives!” the description reads.