The squeeze is on: Beijing and Washington flex muscles as narrative war heats up

As China and the United States accuse each other of provoking the latest escalation in trade tensions and disrupting the world economy, analysts say both share a goal in their war of words: applying maximum pressure until a deal is struck.

In the past few days, Washington has framed the recent flare-up in relations as “China versus the world”, with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggesting on Wednesday that Beijing’s restrictions on the export of rare earth elements unveiled last week made the country an “unreliable partner”.

Beijing has responded in kind, with its Commerce Ministry accusing the US of adopting a “double standard” on the issue. As examples, officials have pointed to a previous expansion of companies covered by Washington’s trade curbs and a US export control list of over 3,000 items compared to China’s roughly 900.

In a series of posters published online Thursday, the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily reiterated Beijing’s stance: the goal of China’s rare earth regulations is to better safeguard world peace and, following a “comprehensive assessment”, China is certain the impact of the measures on supply chains will be minimal.

At a press conference the same day, commerce ministry spokeswoman He Yongqian said the US claim “severely distorts and exaggerates China’s measures, deliberately causing unnecessary misunderstanding and panic”.

The Trump administration seems to be waking up to the value of these tactics

Nick Marro, Economist Intelligence Unit

John Gong, professor of economics at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, said the two countries’ back-and-forth was ultimately a battle of competing narratives.

South China Morning Post