Chinese official mocks ‘US peasants’ in tariff war jibe

Washington’s tariff spree will eventually backfire on itself, Xia Baolong has said

A senior Chinese official has slammed US President Donald Trump’s “extremely arrogant and shameless” tariffs against Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China. Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, added that “the US peasants” would “wail before the 5,000-year-old civilization.” 

Xia’s comment is the latest in a war of words between the US and China, following Vice President J.D. Vance’s remark earlier this month that the US borrows from “Chinese peasants to buy things those Chinese peasants manufacture.” Beijing slammed the comment as “ignorant and disrespectful.” 

In a televised speech on Tuesday, Xia condemned Trump’s decision to impose high tariffs on Hong Kong, despite it “being the largest source of the US trade surplus.” 

“The US isn’t after our tariffs but our very survival,” he said. “The US has repeatedly contained and suppressed Hong Kong … and this will eventually backfire on itself.”

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The official went on to say that bullying tactics have never succeeded against the Chinese people, including those from Hong Kong.

“Pressure, threats and blackmail are not the right way to deal with China,” Xia said. “Let those peasants in the United States wail in front of the 5,000 years of Chinese civilization,” he added.

His words were echoed by Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lin Jian on Wednesday.

“If the United States really wants to solve the problem through dialogue and negotiation, it should give up the extreme pressure, stop threatening and blackmailing,” he told journalists.

The tariff standoff with Beijing comes amid a broader US campaign targeting dozens of countries. While most of the elevated tariffs were paused for 90 days, China was excluded from the reprieve. The total tariff on Chinese goods has been hiked to 145%. In response, Beijing imposed 125% tariffs on imports of American goods and restricted exports of minerals essential for high-tech manufacturing.