Xi Jinping calls for ‘new Long March’ in dramatic sign that China is preparing for protracted trade war
Xi Jinping told cheering crowds in Jiangxi: ‘We are now embarking on a new Long March, and we must start all over again’
His comments come amid an increasingly sour mood in official Chinese media, which have become more forceful in anti-US rhetoric since trade war talks collapsed
Zhou Xin
Published: 8:24pm, 21 May, 2019
Chinese President Xi Jinping lays a floral basket at a monument marking the departure point of the Long March in Yudu county, Ganzhou, in Jiangxi province. Photo: Xinhua
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for the nation to embark on a new Long March and “start all over again”, in the most dramatic sign to date that Beijing has given up hope of reaching a trade deal with the United States in the near term.
Xi is in Jiangxi province for his first domestic tour since the escalation of the trade war two weeks ago. Jiangxi is where China’s defeated Red Army started its fabled Long March in 1934, and Xi’s choice of destination is being viewed as an effort to invoke a spirit of endurance and to rally public spirit amid rising tensions with Washington.
“We are here at the starting point of the Long March to remember the time when the Red Army began its journey,”
Xi told cheering crowds on Monday, in footage posted on state broadcaster CCTV’s website on Tuesday. “We are now embarking on a new Long March, and we must start all over again.”
While Xi did not directly mention the trade war or the United States, his remarks are being perceived as clear signals that the Chinese public is being told to prepare for hardships because of the worsening external environment.
The economy is already slowing and the trade war could trim as much as 1 per cent from its gross domestic product, Wang Yang, one of the seven members of the elite Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China, said last week.
Vice-Premier Liu He, China’s top trade negotiator, accompanied Xi for the tour and is clearly visible at the president’s side in video footage of the tour.
On Monday, Xi also visited one of the country’s major rare earth mining and processing facilities amid speculation that China could ban rare earth exports to the US in retaliation for trade war escalation, as it did to Japan a decade ago.
Trump and Xi have a personal stake in ending the trade war
The Long March was a military retreat between 1934 to 1936 undertaken by the Red Army, the forerunner of the People’s Liberation Army, to evade Kuomintang troops during the Chinese civil war. The thousands of marchers covered some of the country’s harshest terrain and the feat is often evoked as a symbol of Chinese unity by the ruling Communist Party.
Xi’s message was delivered at a time when the country’s official media outlets have adopted increasingly nationalistic tones in relation to the trade war and broader Sino-US relations. However, media reports have stopped short of directly criticising US President Donald Trump.
A long article by the official Xinhua News Agency on Monday claimed that “bullying by the US side” was the cause of the failed trade talks.
“The People’s Republic [of China] has been standing tall in the East for the last 70 years, it has never lowered its head and it has never feared anyone,” Xinhua said. “History will prove again that bullying and threats by the US will not work.”
Trump is just following a long US tradition with tariffs on China
Xinhua followed this up on Tuesday with a report of Xi’s tour, saying that “every generation has its own long march”. It did not mention the trade war.
China has officially kept the door open to future trade talks, but no new talks have been scheduled. Technical work, such as document drafting and translation, largely ceased after the two sides failed to reach a final agreement in the 11th round of talks earlier in May, according to two sources who were briefed on the situation.
China warned last Friday that there was no point in holding more talks if the US was not “sincere” in wanting to achieve a fair outcome.
“The message is clear: China is ready to fight a protracted trade war,” said one source.
The US government’s decision last week to place Chinese technology firm Huawei and its affiliates on a trading black list has strengthened a perception in Beijing that the US is pursuing a broad strategy to thwart China’s rise, leaving little room for China to compromise on any front.
Beijing resumed its tit-for-tat approach in exchanging additional tariffs with the US and state media has pledged to fight “to the end” in the trade battle. Days after the US raised tariffs on US$200 billion of Chinese imports to 25 per cent from 10 per cent, Beijing said it would raise duties on US$60 billion of American goods on June 1.
At the same time, Chinese scholars are openly suggesting other ways Beijing could retaliate against the US. Jin Canrong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing, wrote an article last week suggesting China could ban rare earth mineral exports to the US.
These contain elements that are vital for many hi-tech products, and China accounts for 90 per cent of global production. China could also start dumping its vast holdings of US treasuries, Jin wrote, even though conventional wisdom suggests this would hurt China more than the US.
In addition, Beijing could close its market to major US firms such as General Motors and Apple, which derive significant portions of their global profits from sales in China, Jin noted.The Chinese government has said it would be forced take “necessary countermeasures” against the US in response to the US raising tariffs on May 10, although Beijing has to date stopped short of further escalation, apart from its own reciprocal tariff raise.
The Chinese public’s expectation of a near-term trade deal with US, however, has been replaced by a growing confrontational spirit.
Sue Trinh, a strategist with Royal Bank of Canada in Hong Kong, wrote in note on Tuesday that there has been “a significant nationalist shift in Chinese rhetoric” regarding the trade war, particularly the use of militaristic imagery terminology in official media.
An opinion piece in the state-run Global Times last Friday argued that Beijing is in no hurry to end the trade war because China is more capable of withstanding the ensuing pain than the US.
“In the best scenario, China would become more adaptable and cut our reliance on the US market for good,” the editorial said.
https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3011186/xi-jinping-calls-ne
Xi Jinping told cheering crowds in Jiangxi: ‘We are now embarking on a new Long March, and we must start all over again’
His comments come amid an increasingly sour mood in official Chinese media, which have become more forceful in anti-US rhetoric since trade war talks collapsed
Zhou Xin
Published: 8:24pm, 21 May, 2019
Chinese President Xi Jinping lays a floral basket at a monument marking the departure point of the Long March in Yudu county, Ganzhou, in Jiangxi province. Photo: Xinhua
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for the nation to embark on a new Long March and “start all over again”, in the most dramatic sign to date that Beijing has given up hope of reaching a trade deal with the United States in the near term.
Xi is in Jiangxi province for his first domestic tour since the escalation of the trade war two weeks ago. Jiangxi is where China’s defeated Red Army started its fabled Long March in 1934, and Xi’s choice of destination is being viewed as an effort to invoke a spirit of endurance and to rally public spirit amid rising tensions with Washington.
“We are here at the starting point of the Long March to remember the time when the Red Army began its journey,”
Xi told cheering crowds on Monday, in footage posted on state broadcaster CCTV’s website on Tuesday. “We are now embarking on a new Long March, and we must start all over again.”
While Xi did not directly mention the trade war or the United States, his remarks are being perceived as clear signals that the Chinese public is being told to prepare for hardships because of the worsening external environment.
The economy is already slowing and the trade war could trim as much as 1 per cent from its gross domestic product, Wang Yang, one of the seven members of the elite Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China, said last week.
Vice-Premier Liu He, China’s top trade negotiator, accompanied Xi for the tour and is clearly visible at the president’s side in video footage of the tour.
On Monday, Xi also visited one of the country’s major rare earth mining and processing facilities amid speculation that China could ban rare earth exports to the US in retaliation for trade war escalation, as it did to Japan a decade ago.
Trump and Xi have a personal stake in ending the trade war
The Long March was a military retreat between 1934 to 1936 undertaken by the Red Army, the forerunner of the People’s Liberation Army, to evade Kuomintang troops during the Chinese civil war. The thousands of marchers covered some of the country’s harshest terrain and the feat is often evoked as a symbol of Chinese unity by the ruling Communist Party.
Xi’s message was delivered at a time when the country’s official media outlets have adopted increasingly nationalistic tones in relation to the trade war and broader Sino-US relations. However, media reports have stopped short of directly criticising US President Donald Trump.
A long article by the official Xinhua News Agency on Monday claimed that “bullying by the US side” was the cause of the failed trade talks.
“The People’s Republic [of China] has been standing tall in the East for the last 70 years, it has never lowered its head and it has never feared anyone,” Xinhua said. “History will prove again that bullying and threats by the US will not work.”
Trump is just following a long US tradition with tariffs on China
Xinhua followed this up on Tuesday with a report of Xi’s tour, saying that “every generation has its own long march”. It did not mention the trade war.
China has officially kept the door open to future trade talks, but no new talks have been scheduled. Technical work, such as document drafting and translation, largely ceased after the two sides failed to reach a final agreement in the 11th round of talks earlier in May, according to two sources who were briefed on the situation.
China warned last Friday that there was no point in holding more talks if the US was not “sincere” in wanting to achieve a fair outcome.
“The message is clear: China is ready to fight a protracted trade war,” said one source.
The US government’s decision last week to place Chinese technology firm Huawei and its affiliates on a trading black list has strengthened a perception in Beijing that the US is pursuing a broad strategy to thwart China’s rise, leaving little room for China to compromise on any front.
Beijing resumed its tit-for-tat approach in exchanging additional tariffs with the US and state media has pledged to fight “to the end” in the trade battle. Days after the US raised tariffs on US$200 billion of Chinese imports to 25 per cent from 10 per cent, Beijing said it would raise duties on US$60 billion of American goods on June 1.
At the same time, Chinese scholars are openly suggesting other ways Beijing could retaliate against the US. Jin Canrong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing, wrote an article last week suggesting China could ban rare earth mineral exports to the US.
These contain elements that are vital for many hi-tech products, and China accounts for 90 per cent of global production. China could also start dumping its vast holdings of US treasuries, Jin wrote, even though conventional wisdom suggests this would hurt China more than the US.
In addition, Beijing could close its market to major US firms such as General Motors and Apple, which derive significant portions of their global profits from sales in China, Jin noted.The Chinese government has said it would be forced take “necessary countermeasures” against the US in response to the US raising tariffs on May 10, although Beijing has to date stopped short of further escalation, apart from its own reciprocal tariff raise.
The Chinese public’s expectation of a near-term trade deal with US, however, has been replaced by a growing confrontational spirit.
Sue Trinh, a strategist with Royal Bank of Canada in Hong Kong, wrote in note on Tuesday that there has been “a significant nationalist shift in Chinese rhetoric” regarding the trade war, particularly the use of militaristic imagery terminology in official media.
An opinion piece in the state-run Global Times last Friday argued that Beijing is in no hurry to end the trade war because China is more capable of withstanding the ensuing pain than the US.
“In the best scenario, China would become more adaptable and cut our reliance on the US market for good,” the editorial said.
https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3011186/xi-jinping-calls-ne
