On the afternoon of April 9, the Chinese State Council issued an announcement on adjusting tariffs on US goods. This is also the 5th announcement of 2025 by the Tariff Commission of the State Council.

We all know what this means. It's essentially four words: we will see it through to the end. But precisely this announcement reflects the biggest difference between China and the US, as such expressions appeared in this announcement: China believes that the US actions "seriously damage the multilateral trading system based on rules."

Why does this expression reflect the biggest difference between China and the US? There are two reasons:

1. First, this shows that even if Trump himself has become so irrational, China remains rational. China still thinks about the international multilateral trading system, which is a responsible major country's commitment. At present, China is not only fighting with the US to protect its own interests but is actually fighting for the international trade system. On the same day, many regional powers have clearly expressed their positions.

Brazilian President Lula said: "The US overturning the global trade order and issuing orders to other countries will not work." Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zakharova said: "US tariff policies violate the basic principles of the WTO." In addition, UN Secretary-General Guterres, political leaders from many Southern countries, and several important European politicians have expressed condemnation of the US.

However, in stark contrast to China's responsible attitude towards the world, Trump insulted leaders of multiple countries. On the evening of April 8 local time, when Trump talked about those countries willing to negotiate with the US, he used extremely offensive slang saying "they are all kissing my ass" and "they would do anything for me." When he said these words, we saw a side of the US president with very poor manners.

2. Secondly, when China talks about the "multilateral trading system," it also indicates that China will operate at a larger scale next. This reminds us of an important view by Singaporean strategic scholar Kishore Mahbubani in recent years. He believes that the Sino-US competition is a marathon, but Trump got the direction wrong; he thought he was playing a sprint. So he only sees 2025, and he cannot see the subtle changes in the world trade system. These changes are beneficial to China because China excels at long-term warfare.

Two important manifestations of Trump's "short sprint" are:

On one hand, he destroyed the multilateral trading system, which even offended the US's longtime allies. Even if some European countries compromise under current pressure, they will definitely "independently" distance themselves from the US once they gain strategic space.

On the other hand, he prematurely revealed his cards. Perhaps you wouldn't expect that after China's announcement on April 9, Trump posted multiple tweets on his personal social media within an hour, talking about "Making America Great Again!" However, this cannot change the voices calling for him to step down in the US.

In summary, the different patterns of Sino-US relations hope that all countries of the world can understand them. Essentially, this is because the US and China have already embarked on two completely different paths. China walks the path of shouldering great responsibilities, while the US has shifted from refined self-interest to outright hegemonism without even pretending. Since this is the case, many things are inevitable, and we can only see it through to the end.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7491297381162484236/

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