With dramatic escalation in the ongoing trade war between China and the U.S., Beijing is cranking up its propaganda machine, calling for a “people’s war” against Washington and the U.S. after President Donald Trump threatened to raise even more tariffs.
The Trump administration has readied a list of $300 billion worth of additional Chinese imports to hit with tariffs, effectively taxing everything that comes to the U.S. from China.
Chinese state media, which is nothing more than a mouthpiece for the communist party, slammed the Trump administration’s “greed and arrogance,” and called for the “people’s war” in a series of articles and op-eds published Monday.
“The most important thing is that in the China-US trade war, the US side fights for greed and arrogance … and morale will break at any point,” the Global Times tabloid wrote (open link in Google Chrome for a translated page). “China is fighting back to protect its legitimate rights and interests. We know why it is necessary to negotiate and why the negotiations are not to be resolute. The trade war in the United States is strongly advocated by one person and one team, and it is the public of the country. China is coerced by the entire country and all the people at the same time. For us, this is a real ‘people’s war.'”
Chinese TV station CCTV also aired a clip that has been viewed a staggering 3.3 billion times already in which an anchor asks, “After 5,000 years of trials and tribulations, what kind of battle have the Chinese not been through?”
#China state TV is playing up patriotism, posting a clip from the evening news last night which has been viewed on social media 3.3bln times. The anchor says, “After 5,000 years of trials and tribulations, what kind of battle have the Chinese people not been through?” https://t.co/wAJealMPiA
— Eunice Yoon (@onlyyoontv) May 14, 2019
The video underscores that China is playing the long game because its president, Xi Jinping, is president for life, whereas Trump could be out as soon as Inauguration Day in 2021, or 2025 at the latest if he wins another term in office.
The trade war he started will likely play a big part in whether or not Trump is able to win reelection, and he has made the case a number of times on Twitter that China is trying to stall and hopefully negotiate with a Democrat president after 2020.
China is DREAMING that Sleepy Joe Biden, or any of the others, gets elected in 2020. They LOVE ripping off America!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2019
So far, CNBC’s Beijing Bureau Chief Eunice Yoon says China is clearly preparing its people for what could be a long fight.
But so far no serious calls for boycotts of U.S. goods, @SullyCNBC. The nationalism is likely to prepare the public for the trade fight and convince anyone who is worried about the impact that #China is prepared.
— Eunice Yoon (@onlyyoontv) May 14, 2019
The People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the communist party, posted a photo called “This is China’s attitude,” indicating Beijing is ready to dig in.
“Negotiate — we can! Fight — bring it on! Bully us — YOU WISH!” is reportedly what the message translates to.
”Negotiate— we can!
Fight— bring it on!
Bully us— YOU WISH!”
-People’s Daily WeChat post entitled “This is #China’s attitude” on the escalating trade war with @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/pqh7tZWSgg— Eunice Yoon (@onlyyoontv) May 14, 2019
China announced Monday it is putting retaliatory tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S. good starting June 1 after Washington announced last week it was raising tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports from 10% to 25%. On Monday, the Trump administration also said it has a list of $300 billion worth of additional imports to hit with tariffs, effectively taxing almost everything that is imported into the U.S.
The fight of course sent the markets reeling Monday, though things on Wall Street rebounded through afternoon trading on Tuesday. The S&P 500 and Dow were up 1.3%, and the Nasdaq was up 1.5% right at lunchtime on the East Coast on Tuesday.