China Responds to Trump Tariffs With Defiant Propaganda Clip Comparing Making a Deal to ‘Drinking Poison to Quench Thirst’
China pulled no punches in sending a defiant message to President Donald Trump on Elon Musk’s X platform this week, releasing a propaganda clip titled, “Never Kneel Down!”
The clip was shared by China’s Foreign Ministry and ripped into Trump’s sweeping global tariffs, accusing the U.S. of bullying the rest of the world. The English-language clip runs with Chinese and English subtitles and includes a narrator declaring, “Bowing to a bully is like drinking poison to quench thirst. It only deepens the crisis.”
“Have you heard of the eye of the storm? It appears calm for a moment, but is actually a deadly trap, a calm before an even fiercer storm. The U.S. has stirred up a global tariff storm and deliberately targeted China, playing a 90-day pause game with other nations, forcing them to limit trade with China,” the narrator begins, adding:
This is just like the deadly trap of the eye of the storm. Bowing to a bully is like drinking poison to quench thirst. It only deepens the crisis. The U.S. once accused Japan of dumping semiconductors and crushed companies like Toshiba. Later, it forced Japan to sign the Plaza Accord, pushing the economy into decades of anemic growth. The U.S. also used long-arm jurisdiction as a weapon, breaking up France’s industrial giant, Alstom, robbing the country of a national champion.
History has proven compromise won’t earn you mercy. Kneeling only invites more bullying. China won’t kneel down, because we know, standing up for ourselves keeps the possibility of cooperation alive. While compromise snuffs it out, China won’t back down. So the voices of the weak will be heard, bullying will be stopped, and justice will not disappear from the world.
All bullies are just paper tigers. The U.S. does not represent the entire world. Its trade makes up less than a fifth of the world’s total. When the rest of the world stands together in solidarity, The U.S. is just a small stranded boat. Imperialists are always arrogant. If they show a bit of reason, it’s only because they’re forced to do so. Make no mistake, the U.S. will keep flip-flopping and playing hardball. But China will stand firm, no matter how hard the wind blows, no matter how clouds rage.
The darker the night, the brighter the stars shine. Someone has to step forward, torch in hand, to shatter the fog and illuminate the path ahead. When every nation stands tall, the world will break through the walls of hegemony. For China, for the world, we must rise and fight on.
China has so far insisted that it is not in ongoing negotiations with the U.S. to lower trade barriers after Trump slapped a massive 145% tariff on Chinese imports. “Let me make it clear one more time that China and the U.S. are not engaged in any consultation or negotiation on tariffs,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said at a recent press conference.
CNBC reported on the Trump administration’s signals that a deal with China is in the works, noting:
Asked on Sunday why China would deny that negotiations are underway, [Scott] Bessent said, “Well, I think they’re playing to a different audience.”
Pressed to explain whether the talks are actually happening, he said, “We have a process in place. And again, I just believe these Chinese tariffs are unsustainable.”
Bessent predicted last week that a “de-escalation” with China was coming in the “very near future.”
China’s vow not to give in to Trump comes amid mounting concern over possible shortages and price hikes due to Trump’s sweeping global tariffs. Reports of empty ports as container ship traffic from countries like China have raised alarm that retailers will soon run out of goods.
