Chinese leaders sent a clear message about the impact of the Trump administration's fundamental tariffs. Things are painful, but there is nothing the country can't handle.
Daily Sunday commentary by the People, the Communist Party's mouthpiece, said Beijing is preparing for a trade war with the US, and that China could potentially become stronger as a result.
“The US abuse of tariffs will affect China, but “the sky will not fall,” he said. “China is a super economy. We are strong and resilient in the face of US tariff bullying.”
The commentary emphasized that China wants to position itself as tariffs will cause an increase in economic disruption. It wants to be seen as a responsible fair trade champion that is too strong to succumb to our pressures.
China also attempted to project solidarity with other countries targeting US tariffs in a commentary from another state-run media on Sunday.
In the article, China accused the United States of “trying to destroy the existing international economic and trade order” by “putting US interests above the common interests of the international community.” Washington was also moving forward with “the hegemonic ambitions of the United States at the expense of the legitimate interests of all countries.”
We believe that forecasts of China's relative strength will harm the graves that Trump administration's tariffs could pose on the country.
Trump is bidding to transform the global trading system currently controlled by China. Exports also remain the most powerful engine for growth at a time when China is trying to delve into the property crisis and tackle other major economic issues.
Nevertheless, people's daily commentary argued that China is ready to survive Trump's tariffs. He also said that Chinese banks are well capitalized and there is room for more money to be injected into the domestic economy. And it argued that it could return to the US with a new array of regulatory tools.
Some of these tools were used on Friday when China responded to Trump's tariffs by placing 11 American companies on its unreliable entities list and 16 more on its export control list. They also announced export restrictions for medium and heavy rare earths. This was in addition to slapping US goods at a 34% tariff to match the obligations imposed on Chinese products.
China has been working for months to engage in high-level consultations with the Trump administration in preparation for a potential summit between Trump and top Chinese leader Xi Jinping. But Beijing is struggling to get a lot of responses from the White House despite Trump saying he was involved with Xi Jinping earlier this year.
China's response to two other rounds of 10% tariffs imposed by the US earlier this year has been adjusted to keep the door open for negotiations. Some analysts said Friday's measures were also designed to do that.
People's daily commentary said China “didn't close the door for negotiations” but would be prepared for the worst. The looming crisis will force China to continue reforming its economy to become more dependent on its vast domestic markets, he said.
“We have to turn pressure into motivation,” he said.
For all the bravery in withstanding US tariffs, China was also censoring criticism of its own move to impose retaliatory tariffs.
On Friday, researchers at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences wrote on social media that China's measures are “completely wrong.”
“The US is walking in with tariffs, so we shouldn't even step in,” the researcher wrote that he was the assistant director of the Academy's Center for Public Policy Research. “The right solution is to implement unilateral zero tariffs on imports from all countries.”
He posted a comment during his personal Wechat moment. This is something only his friends see, and is similar to a private Facebook page. However, screenshots from the posts soon began to be more widely distributed.
Then on Sunday, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences announced that the centre where he worked was closed. It gave no reason for the closure, but cited internal regulations regarding the management of the research center. They say that these regulations are particularly centered around “being adherent to the right political direction.”
Screenshots of his comments have also been turned greyed on another social media platform, Weibo.
The centre may already be under intense scrutiny. Its director Zhu Hengpeng was detained and deleted from his post last year, where he allegedly made critical comments about XI in a private group chat, the Wall Street Journal reported in September.
On social media in China, nationalist commentators cheered on the centre's closure and linked it to his comments. “I firmly support the spirit of central government's direction!” I wrote a military blogger with 4 million followers on Weibo.
