China cannot afford Trump’s tariffs, and cannot afford to crawl to him, either
With Donald Trump jacking up tariffs on Chinese imports, China could force the US to back off by hurting it in Ukraine and could even invade Taiwan.
Andrew Bolt
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Donald Trump’s tariff war is merging with real wars, and the world is suddenly a lot more dangerous.
It may seem unconnected, but Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday announced two Chinese citizens had been captured fighting for Russia in Ukraine.
North Korea has sent soldiers to help Russia, but this is the first time Ukraine has confirmed Chinese soldiers there, too.
“We have information suggesting that there are many more Chinese citizens in the occupier’s units,” Zelensky posted, with a video of one of the captured soldiers.
True, these Chinese soldiers could just be mercenaries.
But the suspicion is that China has moved from helping Russia in the background to giving more explicit military support to keep pressure on President Trump to cave in and cut Ukraine loose.
That would split the US and Europe.
For China, dividing the Western alliance would be a massive win.
So what’s this got to do with Trump’s tariffs?
Well, because Trump hit China last week with huge tariffs on its exports, and China has hit back with its tariffs of its own.
Trump on Wednesday just doubled down, jacking up tariffs on Chinese imports to a crippling 104 per cent.
His White House spokesman jeered that “when America is punched, [Trump] punches back harder.”
Trump’s tariffs threaten to sabotage China’s weak economy, which heavily depends on its exports.
That threatens the dictatorship’s power over its people.
Poorer citizens tend to get angry.
Adding to this explosive mix is national pride – not just the Trump rah-rah but China’s inflamed ultranationalism under President Xi Jinping, who’s promised the Chinese a new world order – with China on top.
So China cannot afford Trump’s tariffs, and cannot afford to crawl to him, either.
But Trump may not even want a deal with China to fix this.
He’s suggested his tariffs on China are meant to weaken America’s biggest rival.
He said he didn’t want China using its earnings from US exports to get stronger: “I don’t want them to take $500 billion, $600 billion a year and spend it on their military.”
So what if things really get out of hand?
Well, China could force the US to back off by hurting it in Ukraine.
It could even go ahead with its plans to invade Taiwan, taking over its semiconductor industry, so critical for American technology.
Sure, none of this may happen, but with Trump and China, who knows?
Originally published as China cannot afford Trump’s tariffs, and cannot afford to crawl to him, either
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