[NEW YORK] President Xi Jinping’s diplomats are fanning out across the world with a clear message for countries cutting deals with Donald Trump: The US is a bully that cannot be trusted.
Chinese officials are racing to turn foreign governments against the US inside a 90-day window Trump has granted all nations – except China – to strike trade deals during a tariff reprieve. Once those pacts are in place, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said he wants US allies to “approach China as a group”, giving his side more leverage in negotiations.
While US allies from South Korea to the European Union rely on Washington for security and have the incentive to appease Trump economically, China is approaching the tariff battle on a more equal footing. Beijing has devoted years since Trump’s last trade war to weaning its economy off many US exports, and has the world’s largest military by number of active soldiers.
Xi has resisted getting on the phone with Trump and his government is demanding a removal of “reciprocal” tariffs, even as the US insists the other side takes the first step in de-escalating. In doing so, China is casting itself as a champion of the rules-based order and is calling on other countries to stand with Beijing against Washington.
“This is not just about China-US,” said Wu Xinbo, director at Fudan University’s Center for American Studies in Shanghai. “It is really about the international trade and economic system.”
Wu, who last year led a Foreign Ministry delegation to meet politicians in the US, said other governments should realise Beijing’s efforts have benefited them. “If China hadn’t stood up to the US, how would the US give them a 90-day pause,” he added, suggesting tariffs on China have given Trump cover to halt levies on other nations. “They should appreciate that.”
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In Washington, central bank governor Pan Gongsheng told economic chiefs last week the US had “severely violated” their legitimate rights and interests. China’s top diplomat Wang Yi rallied the Brics bloc of nations at a Monday (Apr 28) meeting in Brazil to join Beijing in resisting Trump’s demands.
“If you choose to remain silent, compromise and retreat, it will only allow the bully to become more aggressive,” he said.
Hours later, China’s Foreign Ministry branded Washington an “imperialist” power in a video with English subtitles that claimed US moves to limit Japanese exports last century severely harmed companies such as Toshiba.
“Bowing to a bully is just like drinking poison to quench thirst, it only deepens the crisis,” it said. “China won’t back down so the voices of the weak will be heard.”
While many partners such as the EU are diametrically opposed to Trump’s tariffs, many will also be wary of moving closer to China. Beijing’s military aggression towards Taiwan and in the South China Sea, where it has territorial disputes, has caused alarm in the region, while Xi’s support for Vladimir Putin after his invasion of Ukraine has attracted fierce opposition in Europe.
Beijing also faces concern from other countries that a flood of cheap Chinese goods will be diverted from the US towards their markets. During a Group of Seven meeting last week, members agreed to encourage Beijing to address its domestic imbalances, according to Japan’s Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato.
Most countries are still working towards a US deal, even if they are slow in reaching any consensus. India is perhaps making most progress, with officials hammering out an agreement that spans 19 categories and would give the US greater market access for farm goods, among other sectors.
For US allies that depend on China for critical minerals and other goods, the trade war has left them with few easy options, as Beijing warns against striking deals that could harm its interests. Trump’s top economic advisers have discussed asking nations to impose secondary tariffs on imports from countries with close China ties, Bloomberg previously reported.
Beijing is now extending olive branches to regional rivals it’s clashed with over military issues and territorial disputes, as it tries to prevent countries from agreeing to such terms.
China will host its first all-Korean pop concert in nine years next month, in a sign authorities are preparing to lift the so-called “K-wave ban” imposed informally in 2016 in retaliation for Seoul allowing the US military to deploy a missile defence system.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang this month sent a letter to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba urging a coordinated response to Trump’s tariffs, Kyodo News reported, citing a Japanese government official. Tokyo plans to resist any US efforts to form a bloc against Beijing – its biggest trading partner – according to Japanese government officials.
To the surprise of Indian officials, China showed a marked change in approach to contentious border issues during a meeting last month, according to sources familiar with the matter, who did not want to be named as discussions are private.
Chinese officials took a conciliatory tone on India’s concerns on matters such as grazing rights of shepherd communities along the disputed boundary, they said.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Defence did not respond to e-mails seeking further information.
Other signs of a thaw include an expected visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Beijing this year for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization conference. China has also offered to buy more from India to help New Delhi reduce the trade deficit, and agreed to restart an annual Hindu pilgrimage along the disputed border in Tibet.
China’s ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, has also gone on a PR offensive, publishing an opinion piece titled America’s Tariffs Are Turning the World Back to Law of the Jungle. That followed an article in a separate publication where Xiao blasted Trump for targeting remote sub-Antarctic islands. “Not even penguins are safe from the US trade tariffs,” he added.
Lower-level Chinese delegations are also hitting the road. Central authorities have urged provincial officials to seek new export markets, according to several managers at state-owned merchants, who have been asked to join overseas trips. They asked not to be identified discussing private matters.
Latin America is proving popular because it has more transparent policies than some African nations and greater market potential than Asean members, the sources said, citing Argentina as a destination officials had visited.
Beijing’s diplomatic offensive is not going to convince US partners to abandon Washington and embrace Beijing, according to Neil Thomas, a fellow for Chinese politics at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis.
“But it could make it more difficult for the Trump administration to present a united front against Beijing through coordinated export controls or joint military exercises,” he added. BLOOMBERG
