【1】
Recently, news about the Trump administration in the US imposing tariffs on countries around the world has been a constant hot topic, such as the latest news that the White House announced a 104% tariff rate on China:
White House spokesperson Levitt: The US has officially imposed an additional 50% tariff on Chinese goods, bringing the total tariff rate to a record-breaking 104%. There will also be a series of new trade restriction measures that will take effect on April 9. This is consistent with the threat Trump made on Truth Social yesterday: if China does not withdraw the 34% retaliatory tariff announced last Friday by Tuesday or before, the US will implement an additional 50% punitive tariff on Wednesday, together with the 20% tariff already in place, making it a total of 104%.
Moreover, Trump also announced that China-US trade negotiations will be completely terminated, and all meeting arrangements with Beijing will be canceled.
China has taken a confrontational stance in response. The spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce stated: The US has threatened to further impose a 50% tariff on China, and China firmly opposes this. If the US escalates its tariff measures, China will resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard its own interests... If the US insists on going its own way, China will fight to the end.
【2】
In addition to heating the discussion on the current tariff issue, this news also has another highlight - something that many Twitter "Zhongnanhai gossipers" like to bring up: At this critical moment in China-US economic and trade relations, a key juncture in the direction of the global economy, and a focus of global public opinion, where is Xi Jinping? the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and the President of the People's Republic of China, why has he gone invisible up till now for so many days?
Searching for news about Xi Jinping, the only appearance is a news report on April 3rd about him participating in a tree planting event:
Apart from this, Xi Jinping has not made any statements on the tariff issue, nor has there been any reports of him appearing in public or attending any meetings. There are only the routine news about Xi Jinping's ideological study.
In a word, Xi Jinping has once again gone invisible at a critical moment.
This latest disappearance at a critical moment naturally leads the "Zhongnanhai gossipers" on Twitter to speculate again about the dynamics in Zhongnanhai and issues regarding Xi Jinping himself. The main guesses are in two directions:
One is the power fights within the military led by Xi Jinping, from the purges of Li Shangfu/李尚福, Wei Fenghe/魏凤和, and Ding Laihang/丁来杭 last year, to the recent cases of He Weidong/何卫东 and Lin Xiangyang/林向阳, the intense power fights among the various factions in the military have been ongoing. Xi Jinping's invisibility is most likely due to him dealing with the power fights within the military.
The second is Xi Jinping's own health problems. In fact, Xi Jinping's health issues have been a hot topic of discussion whenever he goes invisible, including speculations that he is sick, has had a stroke, or has cerebrovascular tumors, and even the possibility of an ambulance following him when he appear in public.
【3】
Both of these speculations have their merits, but from Xi Jinping's habitual behavior, his disappearance at critical moments is already his standard operating procedure. Because these are critical moments for the common people, but not for Xi Jinping.
The common people are concerned about their livelihoods, while Xi Jinping and the CCP leadership are concerned about their own power and authority.
This habit has been around for a long time.
At the end of 2022, the over-strict COVID-19 prevention policy that had lasted for three years could no longer be sustained. Starting from the Urumqi fire, various forms of protests against "dynamic zero-COVID" and "lockdowns" quickly spread across the country. After People's Daily and Xinhua published commentaries advocating "strategic composure" and insisting on dynamic zero-COVID, suddenly in mid-December, without any forewarning or public announcement, all lockdown and over-strict prevention measures were abruptly canceled overnight, and various isolation barriers and nucleic acid testing booths were gradually dismantled. China completed the transition from over-strict prevention to full reopening in one night. During this period, Xi Jinping, who had "personally commanded and deployed the epidemic prevention work," never made any public statements, not even the CCP leadership.
Even for the nationwide epidemic, Xi Jinping could pretend to be blind and treat it as none of his business. Let alone the tariff issue, which has always been something he has been indifferent to. Life and death, illness - these are just trivial matters for the common people, not even worth the consideration of a dictator like Xi Jinping. Xi Jinping has made some remarks about caring for people's livelihoods before, but those were just empty talk. If you take them seriously, then you are just too naive.
【4】
A quick search reveals numerous public statements from the foreign leaders on the tariff war during this period (only listing the headlines of the major parties involved):
Japan: Ishiba Shigeru agrees with Trump to continue tariff negotiations
South Korea: Acting President of South Korea denies possibility of joint retaliation with China and Japan against US tariffs
Vietnam: Vietnamese leader Tô Lâm requests the US to postpone tariff imposition by at least 45 days
UK: UK Prime Minister pledges to intervene to protect companies affected by tariffs
Germany: German Chancellor: We will resolutely respond to US tariff measures
Italy: Italian Prime Minister: Ready to use all necessary means to deal with US tariffs
France: Macron calls for European unity to suspend investment in the US in response to "arrogant" tariff policy
Canada (partially exempted): Canadian Prime Minister: Will retaliate against US tariff policy
Mexico (partially exempted): Mexican President says will consider tariffs on China
In contrast, Xi Jinping has not uttered a single word during this more than 10-day period, and he cannot even be found. As for the Premier of the State Council, Li Qiang, he did make a public statement, but it was not a proactive statement. It was just a passive remark made "during a phone call with European Commission President von der Leyen," saying that "China has sufficient policy tools to hedge against external adverse impacts." Apart from that, he has not said a word. In other words, if von der Leyen had not called Li Qiang, Li Qiang probably would not have said anything at all. Considering that Li Qiang no longer dares to hold a press conference even during the Two Sessions, this reaction is quite understandable.
Going back to the two speculations of the Twitter "Zhongnanhai gossipers", whether Xi Jinping is busy dealing with power fights or resting his body, it shows that the tariff issue is far from being on his radar.
Without delving into grand narratives, the difference between foreign countries (even countries like Vietnam that still have remnants of communism) and China is the difference between a normal country and a dictatorship, the difference between a democratically elected leader and a leader selected by a dictatorship. The basic operating mode of a democratically elected leader is to care for their constituents, while a dictator only cares about their own power.
Many pro-CCP troll army members love to ask: What's the use of democracy? What's the use of discussing politics? Can it bring you food? The resounding answer from the currently invisible Xi Jinping is: Democracy is certainly useful, discussing politics is also useful. Democratic countries may not necessarily be superior, but they can at least ensure that the leaders you elect are concerned about your food issues, rather than just caring about their own power privilege.
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