How China went from courting Trump to 'never yield' tariff defiance

Source: Reuters

How China went from courting Trump to ‘never yield’ tariff defiance

Reuters
Updated Sun, April 13, 2025 at 8:16 AM EDT 10 min read

BEIJING/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China has put civilian government officials in Beijing on “wartime footing” and ordered a diplomatic charm offensive aimed at encouraging other countries to push back against U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, according to four people familiar with the matter.

Communist Party propaganda officials have played a leading role in framing China’s response, one of the people said, with government spokespeople posting defiant clips on social media featuring former leader Mao Zedong saying “we will never yield.”

As part of the “wartime” posture, the details of which are being reported by Reuters for the first time, bureaucrats in the foreign affairs and commerce ministries have been ordered to cancel vacation plans and keep mobile phones switched on around the clock, two of the people said. Departments covering the U.S. have also been beefed up, including with officials who worked on China’s response to Trump’s first term, they said.

The combative all-of-government approach after Trump’s “Liberation Day" salvo marked a hard turn for Beijing, which had tried to avoid a spiralling trade war. For months, Chinese diplomats had tried to establish a high-level channel of communication with Trump’s administration to defend what China’s cabinet has described in state media campaigns as a “win-win” trading relationship.

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