US and China rift widens amid insults and mind games

TOI correspondent from Washington: US President Donald Trump said he is waiting for a call from Beijing to resolve trade issues, but China, demanding "equality, respect and mutual benefit" before any talks, pledged to "fight to the end" as the world's two biggest economies clashed and effectively decoupled on Tuesday.

Remarkably, global stock markets including in US rebounded strongly despite hardening positions and fractured ties, even within America. Billionaires and business barons begged President Trump to go easy on his tariff tirade, and astonishingly the US Chamber of Commerce, representing thousands of big and small American corporations and businesses, was reported to be considering suing its own government to stop Trump's derailment of global trade.

But the US President escalated his rhetoric and continued to taunt and trash China, while boasting of other countries lining up to initiate talks in an effort to entice Beijing into negotiations. A top team from South Korea "is on a plane heading to the US, and things are looking good," Trump crowed, adding, "we are likewise dealing with many other countries, all of whom want to make a deal with the US."

He also talked of leaders of Japan and Vietnam reaching out, while not mentioning India, which has discreetly been conducting negotiations with a US team for several weeks now, a process Indian officials indicated will go on for several more weeks.

"China also wants to make a deal, badly, but they don’t know how to get it started. We are waiting for their call. It will happen!" he said in a post on X

But the US President also opened up new fronts beyond trade and tariffs in his war against the world, including demanding protection money from allies. "Like with South Korea, we are bringing up other subjects that are not covered by Trade and Tariffs, and getting them negotiated also. “ONE STOP SHOPPING” is a beautiful and efficient process!!!" he said.

But far from picking up the phone, Beijing, evidently smarting at invective that has called the Chinese "peasants" "thieves" and "scavengers," among other epithets, said "intimidation, threat and blackmail are not the right way to engage with China" and "it will not let anyone take away the Chinese people’s legitimate right to development."

"If the US truly wants to talk, it should let people see that they’re ready to treat others with equality, respect and mutual benefit. If the U.S. decides not to care about the interests of the US itself, China and the rest of the world, and is determined to fight a tariff/trade war, China’s response will continue to the end," a Chinese spokesperson said in Beijing.

The back and forth suggested both sides think they have the upper hand and greater leverage, and it is now a question of who blinks first. Several analysts said Washington is making a mistake backing Beijing into a corner and expecting it to cave in because Chinese leadership cannot afford to lose face at home.