THE country is using its own propaganda to hit back at US tariffs, rolling out videos using Cold War imagery to lambaste “imperialists” and send a simple message – capitulation to bullies is dangerous, and we won’t back down.
Beijing has made little effort to contain its anger at the tariffs, which it says amount to bullying and will do nothing to address issues such as fentanyl abuse and cannot stop the rise of the world’s second-largest economy.
On Tuesday, China’s foreign ministry released a video, complete with a voice-over in American-accented English, on its social media that likened yielding to US President Donald Trump’s 145% tariffs to “drinking poison”.
“China won’t kneel down, because we know standing up for ourselves keeps the possibility of cooperation alive, while compromise snuffs it out,” the narration said, over footage of a Chinese MiG 15 fighter shooting down a US jet in the Korean War.
“Imperialists are always arrogant. If they show a bit of reason it’s only because they are forced to do so,” it added, this time over footage of the signing of the armistice that ended the war.
China’s top diplomat Wang Yi likened Trump’s trade policy to “the open return of the law of the jungle.”
“If we choose to stay silent or compromise, it will only embolden the bully further,” Wang told his BRICS counterparts, according to a foreign ministry readout.
“The King has come up with new tariffs! Peasants, peasants, listen up!” run the lyrics to an up-tempo, electro-beat song on Douyin, referring to comments from Vice President J.D. Vance who earlier used the term “peasants” to refer to Chinese people.
One AI-generated image shared on WeChat shows Trump, Vance and Tesla boss Elon Musk assembling sneakers and cheap flip-flops at a factory. Another shows a picture of Trump next to a pig’s snout. — Reuters
