Talk about the recent tariff war between China and the United States
What is the confrontation between us and the Americans really about?
When tariffs were at 10% and 20%, it was a struggle between two countries.
But when it reached a global sum and unilateral tariffs of 125%, it has become a coward's game between two national blocs, directly entering the phase of who wins and who helps whom.
In this coward's game, why can there be no retreat?
Because if you do not retreat, you are standing firm, and all other countries in the world will stand behind you to counter the Americans, as the vast majority of burdens are borne by you. This way, you only need to deal with the Americans, and you can also conduct normal bilateral trade with other countries because when it comes to interests, interests can be negotiated.
If you retreat, they will find that the Americans are still unbeatable, and they will all unite behind the Americans. This means you will have to face all countries alone because they will think that the Americans' strength can still force you to bow. You cannot withstand the pressure from the Americans; following the Americans means you can get a little benefit.
So this matter cannot be retreated from; not only can you not retreat, but you must also increase your stakes while releasing enough goodwill to other countries and, ideally, demonstrate your military strength, indicating that the Americans absolutely do not have the capability to coerce you into submission through military force. This way, you are bearing the brunt of the American attacks, while all other countries continue to trade with you as usual, and they might even take advantage of your confrontation with the Americans to gain some benefits themselves.
In our country, being friendly to most countries while being tough on the Americans, the Americans are left with only two choices.
1. Choose to treat all countries equally, then it will be the Americans themselves who become isolated; they cannot impose a 100% tariff on every single one.
2. Choose selectively to target us, then due to the nature of being the world's factory, all other countries will become the gateway for our re-export trade.
No retreat; if you take one step back, 10% of the countries will hesitate; if you take two steps back, 30% of the countries will be entangled; if you take three steps back, even Russia will jump to the other side.
Only by fighting to the death without retreating, even increasing the stakes while demonstrating strength, will all countries understand that the Americans are definitely not the final victors of this war.
Only then will they follow behind you and work under your banner.