March 6, 2025 (EIRNS)—China’s officials on March 4 responded to the U.S. hike in tariffs on Chinese imports, by hiking tariffs on imports into of U.S. agriculture and other goods, and issuing a strong statement, which was also carried yesterday by the Chinese Embassy to the U.S. in a post on X: “If war is what the U.S. wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end.” This post has received thousands of replies on X and millions on Chinese Weibo.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth then blustered in response saying on Fox News yesterday, “We live in a dangerous world with powerful, ascendant countries with very different ideology.” He added, “If we want to deter war with the Chinese or others, we have to be strong.”
Today Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao was also asked about the tariffs at a press conference at the National People’s Congress. He said clearly that China was not going to accept any “bullying” and that relations had to be conducted on the basis of mutual respect. He said that he had sent letters to the new U.S. Secretary of Commerce and to the U.S. Trade Representative, saying that the two sides should begin to discuss the trade issue. There may well be no Trump-Xi meeting until the U.S. shows a bit more cordiality.
The ongoing “Two Sessions” of the Chinese legislature has focused on bolstering China’s economy in the face of such bullying, by increasing its push on science and technology. The science budget has been increased, and the budget for basic science research even more, even diverting from the all-important infrastructure investment to the category of science.
President Xi Jinping, in his discussions with the delegation from Jiangsu, stressed in particular the importance of human resources and education in developing the scientific cadre for tomorrow’s world. China has also increased funding and reduced reserve ratios to maintain whatever spending is needed in the face of the pressure from the U.S.
