US tariffs threat strikes raw nerve on 20th anniversary of Nato bombing of Chinese embassy in Serbia
- Internet users see trade war as challenge to a Chinese sovereignty that has grown strong in the two decades since journalists perished in US-led strike on Belgrade
Nationalist sentiment is brewing on Chinese social media after the Office of the US Trade Representative chose Wednesday – the 20th anniversary of the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Serbia during the Kosovo conflict – to announce increased tariffs on US$200 billion worth of Chinese goods.
In a tweet on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump reiterated his plan to increase tariffs as his officials planned to meet their Chinese counterparts on a deal to do away with them.
While the president and his trade representative made no connection between the date of the tariff increase and the Belgrade embassy bombing, internet users did.
“After one year’s negotiation, the US announces a hike in tariffs,” said a user on Weibo, one of the biggest social media platforms in China.
“Twenty years ago, the Chinese embassy in Serbia was bombed by the US … It’s clear why the US made the [tariffs] announcement at this time, but China is not the same as [it was] 20 years ago – now is not the time when anyone can push it around.”
Zhang Lifan, a Beijing-based political commentator, said opinion on the trade war from the Chinese establishment and the general public was diverse, but a resort to patriotic sentiment was a tried and tested means of uniting government and people.