President Trump doesn’t seem to mind because his global tariffs sell stock markets for sale and consume trillions of dollars in wealth.
“Be cool,” he told the Americans.
Then, facing financial turmoil, he blinked Wednesday afternoon, especially the rapid rise in government bond yields, which could shake the dominance of the dollar and the foundations of the U.S. economy.
By suspending tariffs in dozens of countries for 90 days, he also gave his main rival, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Jiping, who joined him in a chicken game, risking the cancellation of chicken from the world’s two largest economies and turning the global economic order upside down.
Mr. Xi Jinping learned that his opponent was in pain.
Like Mr. Trump in some parts of the world, in Xi Jinping and China, he is maintaining a long history with a leader and a party-state, even if they cause economic and human disasters, he is also with a long history of pursuing policy.
Among the Chinese, the consensus among Beijing’s critics and their supporters is that the ultimate game may come down to the leader’s ability to put his people in the name of national interests.
“Tariffs and even economic sanctions are not a pressure point for Xi Jinping,” exiled Chinese novelist Hao Qun wrote under the name of Murong Xuecun.
Unlike Mr. Trump, Xi Jinping has not spoken to the Chinese public through social media platforms, even though he controls all of them. Everything he said and did was orchestrated. It was impossible to get into his mind because the public knew nothing about his official facade. But his insights into his impasse with Mr. Trump can be found by looking at how he sees his hardship, his relationship with the Chinese public, and his record as the leader of the 1.4 billion people.
The Chinese Internet is full of nationalist chattresses, about the “necessity to fight back and gain a foothold”.
People shared video clips of Chairman Mao Zedong talking about the Korean War: “As long as they want to fight, we will fight, we will fight until we are completely victorious.”
Mao Ning, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, shared a comment made by Chairman Mao in 1964, calling the United States a “paper tiger.” Chairman Mao Zedong told the French parliamentary delegation to visit China. “A poke, it will break!”
Some commentators cite a huge leap online to show the Communist Party’s ability to enforce austerity in difficult times. The party campaigned between 1958 and 1962 to quickly industrialize China. Its policies violated the laws of science and nature, resulting in famine and tens of millions of deaths.
Although hungry people in the countryside are appealing to cohabitants, Chairman Mao Zedong instructed farmers to eat cereal bran and eat wild plants. “We will turn things around after enduring difficulties for one year, two or even three years,” he said.
Mr. Xi Jinping is the successor of Mao Zedong, who likes to talk about the benefits of enduring hardships.
Born in a revolutionary family, Xi Jinping experienced political turmoil and adversity at a young age. When Xi Jinping was 9 years old, his father was the vice premier. During the Cultural Revolution, Xi Jinping’s father was severely persecuted. The son, who is not yet 16, had to move to a village deep in the Loess Plateau and work as a farmer.
“The seven tough years of my life and work in the countryside have been a great test for me,” he said in the official Xinhua News Agency official novel. “Whenever I encounter difficulties in the future, I think I can still get things done even under such harsh conditions at the time.”
It was 2023, and China’s economy was working to recover from the Kuvid pandemic. Youth unemployment rate soars. Mr. XI told young people that they should learn to use popular expressions to “suffer the bitter taste”, which means enduring suffering.
In a state media article about Mr. Xi’s expectations for the younger generation, the term “hardship” was mentioned 37 times.
In early 2022, it was clear that the Omicron variant was too infected to contain, but almost all other countries that adopted the vaccine were able to reopen their economies. But Xi Jinping insists that China lives through his tough “zero Kuvid” measures while boycotting the import of Western vaccines. Thousands have endured lockdowns, daily tests and forced quarantines. Many lives and livelihoods were destroyed.
Over the past few years, Xi Jinping has rejected calls from many economists and even his own officials to provide cash support to the public to promote consumption. In his 2021 speech, he urged against “welfthyism”, saying: “Once welfare is raised, they won’t come back.”
The truth is that 600 million Chinese people have less than $140 a month and have the lowest social welfare, which is the main reason they save so much and consume less than their economic needs.
Mr. Xi did end up with zero core, but suddenly there was no proper vaccination. Many people were quickly infected, the elderly died, forming long lines outside the crematorium.
China’s chronic real estate collapse seems to finally bring Xi Jinping closer to accepting consumer ideas, although some economists believe it may be too late, especially in the face of a trade war.
Xi Jinping does have one pain for the economy: He can’t make things so bad that it endangers the legitimacy of the party’s rule. In November 2022, national protests ended the Zero League. Tariffs threaten China’s exports, which are driving the country’s economy. On Friday, Mr. Xi made his first public comment on the tariff war.
State media quoted him as saying: “China’s development has always relied on self-reliance and hard work; never rely on the charity of others, nor are there any unjust suppression.”
As the world learned this week, Mr. Trump cannot completely ignore the financial markets or Wall Street and tech billionaires that support his campaign. They contacted his cabinet members to convey their concerns. Even like Elon Musk and hedge fund manager William A. Akerman.
It is hard to imagine that any Chinese entrepreneur would dare to do this, or like Mr. Musk, had channels to convey their concerns to Xi, who had abandoned his political rivals and cracked down on private companies. If Mr. Trump desires absolute power like Xi Jinping, he still has a long way to go.
For the past few days, I have been checking Chinese social media, looking for any famous company or entrepreneur complaining about the trade war. I didn’t find it. Ordinary people who lament online facing salary cuts or lost their business due to tariffs were rejected by nationalist commentators and were labeled as “unpatriotic.”
Mr. Trump cannot compete with him.
“Submission to hegemony has never been China’s choice,” a Weibo user wrote on Thursday. “If we were able to kick out Americans during the Korean War, then we wouldn’t be worried about the continued tariffs. We have to respond with an iron fist.” The comment was considered more than 3,000 times.
