Chinese society shows unity as tensions flare up in Sino-US trade ties

The beating drum of a China-US trade war has drawn the eyes of Chinese society. In the information age, most Chinese know what’s happening, identify and support the Chinese government’s firm stance toward overbearing US moves. When tensions flare up in SinoUS trade ties and overall bilateral relations become more uncertain, Chinese society has shown unity.

But there are always dissenting opinions. Some people disagree with China’s attitude, saying China’s reaction is wrong to US tariffs. They argue that China is no match for the US given their economic disparity, a trade war is harmful to the Chinese people and China has invited the trade war by not keeping a low profile. Some posts on China’s social media say that since the US wants to shoot itself in the foot, China should just let it be.

None of these voices are serious in pondering how China should respond. They don’t mean Chinese society is divided over the trade dispute with the US.

First of all, all of China doesn’t want a trade war. The few who think otherwise should simply be disregarded.

It’s simple logic that when the US wages a trade war, China must strike back. Currently the Trump administration hopes to intimidate China, but China is demonstrating that Washington will be disappointed.

The Chinese government and public are well aware of the pending losses due to the trade war and China’s weakness brought up by a few liberal scholars. But these scholars have deliberately ducked Chinese advantages that Washington must take more seriously.

Whoever launches a trade war usually aims to force the rival to make concessions and thus gain more benefits. The initiator can call itself a winner as long as it suffers less than the targeted side. But China wants to show Washington that in such a trade war the US will suffer losses on the same scale and China is much more resilient to losses than the US.

This is being told to the US through warning and preparatory moves. If warnings don’t work, there will be real countermeasures. But this necessity has been overlooked by the dissenters.

Some Chinese residents are concerned about the impact of the trade war on their life, but the effects, if any, are imposed by the Trump administration. Most Chinese people are aware of that, and will tide over the difficult times through concerted efforts if there are indeed repercussions on their life.

A few people pretend that they are sensible and expect to profit at China’s expense. These people are known for their opposition to the Chinese government on almost all China-related issues.

Such forces are parasites on the Chinese community. Chinese mainstream society is not being led astray by these forces in face of exterior pressure. This is what matters so that exterior forces do not misjudge China as a weak nation.