China Slams JD Vance's 'Chinese Peasants' Comment, Calls Him 'Ignorant'

The recent remarks made by US Vice President JD Vance about "Chinese peasants" have sparked intense backlash in China. Vance made these comments during an interview with Fox News, defending President Donald Trump's tariffs and criticising the global economy. He stated that the US borrows money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture.

"What has the globalist economy gotten the United States of America? And the answer is, fundamentally, it's based on two principles - incurring a huge amount of debt to buy things that other countries make for us," Vance told news show "Fox & Friends."

"To make it a little more crystal clear, we borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture."

He added, "That is not a recipe for economic prosperity, it is not a recipe for low prices, and it's not a recipe for good jobs in the United States of America."

The Chinese government has strongly condemned Vance's comments. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian expressed astonishment over Vance's remarks. "It's both astonishing and lamentable to hear this vice president make such ignorant and disrespectful remarks", he said.

On Chinese social media platforms, particularly Weibo, users have been ridiculing Vance's comments and drawing comparisons between his remarks and his own "hillbilly" background. A hashtag about Vance's comments became the top trending topic on Weibo, racking up 140 million views. Many users pointed out the irony of Vance's comments, given his own working-class upbringing as depicted in his memoir "Hillbilly Elegy".

"This true 'peasant' who came out of rural America seems to have a lack of perspective," said Hu Xijin, former editor-in-chief of state-run tabloid Global Times on Weibo. "Many people are urging him to come and see China for himself."

"We may be peasants, but we have the world's best high-speed rail system, the most powerful logistics capabilities, and leading AI, autonomous driving, and drone technologies. Aren't such peasants quite impressive?" a Weibo user posted, according to CNN.

"Look, this is their true face - arrogant and rude as always," said another comment.

This exchange comes as Donald Trump has followed through on his threat of "additional 50 per cent tariffs" on China starting Wednesday. The White House announced that this will make America's new tariff on China an unprecedented 104 per cent.

President Trump had given China 24 hours to roll back or "withdraw" the retaliatory 34 per cent tariff it imposed on US goods, failing which Chinese goods would be punished with 104 per cent tariffs. Beijing dared Washington to do so earlier today. Within hours Donald Trump announced it.