No One In China Has Ever Heard The ‘Chinese Proverb’ Ivanka Tweeted

Image by Molly Yeh
Ivanka Trump left the Chinese baffled on Monday when she tweeted what she labeled a “Chinese proverb”— one that the Chinese weren’t too familiar with, The Washington Post reported.
The tweet in question was posted just ahead of President Trump’s summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore. “Those who say it can not be done, should not interrupt those doing it. -Chinese Proverb,” the first daughter wrote.
“She saw it in a fortune cookie at Panda Express,” one Chinese user speculated on Weibo, a microblogging website popular in China.
Weibo users who agreed it wasn’t a Chinese proverb tried to guess what saying she may have been trying to reference. Some said it could have been “Don’t give advice while watching others playing a chess game.” Another suggestion was, “Don’t force others to do things you don’t want to do yourself.”
Contact Haley Cohen at [email protected]
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
