China’s Foreign Ministry Releases “Not Kneeling” Video, Declares No Compromise in U.S. Tariff War

China’s Foreign Ministry Releases “Not Kneeling” Video, Declares No Compromise in U.S. Tariff War

https://www.zaobao.com.sg/realtime/china/story20250429-6261774

April 29, 2025

Lianhe Zaobao

(Translated by ChatGPT)

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China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has released a video titled “Not Kneeling”, firmly declaring that China will not compromise or give in during the U.S. tariff war. The video emphasizes that bowing to a hegemon will only lead to a deeper crisis.

On Tuesday (April 29), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted the video on its official WeChat account. The video describes the U.S. as having launched a global tariff storm and selectively playing a “90-day reprieve” game with other countries while excluding China, coercing other nations to restrict economic and trade cooperation with China. It likens this to the eye of a typhoon, “seemingly calm for a brief moment, but actually a deadly trap luring others in, brewing an even more violent storm.” The video is accompanied by bilingual Chinese and English subtitles.

The video stresses that submitting to hegemony is like drinking poison to quench thirst, only plunging one into deeper crisis.

It cites examples such as how in the 1990s, the U.S. targeted Japanese companies like Toshiba under the pretext of semiconductor dumping and forced the appreciation of the yen through the Plaza Accord, which led to Japan’s prolonged economic stagnation. It also mentions how the U.S. forcibly dismantled French industrial giant Alstom, causing France to lose a once globally leading pillar enterprise. “History has proven that compromise and concession do not bring leniency; servility ultimately leads to escalating pressure.”

As the background music intensifies, the video declares “China does not kneel” because “we firmly believe that seeking cooperation through struggle leads to survival of cooperation, while seeking cooperation through concession leads to its demise.” “China does not retreat, so the voices of weaker countries can be heard, hegemonic bullying can be resisted, and global justice can be upheld.”

The video portrays all opposition as paper tigers and states that U.S. trade accounts for less than one-fifth of global trade. “When the world unites, the U.S. is merely a lone sailboat adrift.”

It also criticizes imperialists as being “very arrogant,” saying that even slight reasoning forces them into reluctant compromises. “It is foreseeable that the U.S. will continue to go back on its word and haggle. China will also resolutely uphold its choices and responsibilities.”

The video concludes by saying, “Let the winds blow from all directions, we remain composed amidst chaotic clouds,” and declares that “someone must stand up, raise the torch, cut through the fog and light the way ahead. When every nation stands tall, the world will break through the high walls of hegemony.”

China has recently stepped up its publicity efforts regarding the China-U.S. trade war. At the Politburo meeting held on April 25, the Chinese Communist Party officially labeled the China-U.S. trade war as a “struggle” for the first time. On Monday (April 28), Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, while attending the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Brazil, criticized the U.S. for having long benefited significantly from free trade but is now using tariffs as a bargaining chip to extort other countries. He emphasized, “If we choose to remain silent or retreat in compromise, it will only embolden the bully.”