1 week Ago By The Telegraph
China has branded JD Vance as “ignorant and impolite” after the American vice-president referred to Chinese people as “peasants”. Defending the Trump administration’s sweeping tariffs last week, Mr Vance insisted the taxes were a necessary antidote to a “globalist economy” which has let Americans down. In an interview with Fox News, he said: “We borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture.
“That is not a recipe for economic prosperity. It’s not a recipe for low prices, and it’s not a recipe for good jobs in the United States of America.” But on Tuesday China blasted the comments as “ignorant and impolite”, as relations between the two superpowers sour.
“China’s position on China-US economic and trade relations has been made very clear,” said Lin Jian, a foreign ministry spokesperson. “It is surprising and sad to hear such ignorant and impolite words from this vice-president.” Beijing and Washington are locked in an escalating trade war after president Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” slapped a 34 per cent tariff on all imports from China – on top of a previous 20 per cent levy.
China then retaliated with a reciprocal 34 per cent tariff on all US imports, prompting Mr Trump to threaten on Monday that he would increase tariffs by another 50 per cent unless Beijing stood down. But analysts said there are few signs that China “will blink” in the tit-for-tat over tariffs. “Chinese leaders understand holding firms will be economically costly,” said Ryan Hass, the director of John L Thornton China Centre at Brookings, an American think-tank.
“They’re preparing [the] public to tolerate pain.” He added that Beijing is assuming that Trump’s goal is to undermine the Chinese economy, and is sceptical that capitulating to the US demands would resolve the dispute. “Xi also has his own politics to manage,” Mr Hass wrote on X.
“He doesn’t want to allow a perception to emerge at home or abroad of being muscled around by Trump. “In other words, there are factors larger than raw calculations of economic output that will drive decisions in Beijing. Anyone expecting that Beijing will need to fold to protect its economic interests likely will be disappointed.
.. We’re far from the end of the story.
Buckle up!” On Tuesday, Chinese state media was also bullish about Mr Trump’s “domineering behaviour” after the new tariff threats. In editorials, outlets insisted that Beijing would not be submissive and accused the US of wreaking havoc on the global economy. “This is nothing more than protectionism and unilateral bullying – political blackmail wrapped in the cloak of economic means,” said the Global Times.
The state outlet added that although “China is an ancient civilisation known for its traditions of etiquette and respect”, another defining trait of Chinese spirit is “standing firm in the face of pressure”. Online, the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs also posted a speech from 1987, in which the then president Ronald Reagan criticises tariffs and suggests they ultimately hurt the US economy. The post, which has been widely shared, says the speech “finds new relevance in 2025”.
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