China slams JD Vance over 'Chinese peasants' comment amid tariff tensions

Beijing condemned the remarks as ignorant and disrespectful.

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China issued a sharp diplomatic rebuke to US Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday after remarks he made referring to “Chinese peasants” triggered widespread outrage on Chinese social media and reignited tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

Vance, speaking last week, defended President Donald Trump’s new wave of tariffs by criticising global trade dependency.

“What has the globalist economy gotten the United States of America?” he said.
“We borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture.”

 

 

 

 

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The comments quickly went viral in China, sparking intense backlash online. A Weibo hashtag related to Vance’s remarks had drawn more than 140 million views by Tuesday afternoon, with users mocking Vance and defending China's technological and industrial progress.

At a press briefing in Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian directly condemned the vice president’s remarks.

“It’s both astonishing and lamentable to hear this vice president make such ignorant and disrespectful remarks,” Lin said.

Chinese internet users responded with a mix of ridicule and patriotic rebuttal. Many pointed to China's modern advances — including high-speed rail, AI innovation, and logistics infrastructure — as counterexamples to the “peasant” image evoked by Vance.

 

 

 

 

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Some also shared memes depicting Vance and Trump working in factory lines, satirising their “America First” manufacturing agenda.

One widely liked post read:

“We may be peasants, but we have the world’s best high-speed rail system, the most powerful logistics capabilities, and leading AI and drone technology.”

Others highlighted the irony of Vance’s background, noting that he rose to political prominence after publishing Hillbilly Elegy, a memoir about his working-class upbringing in Appalachia, marked by poverty and addiction.

“This true ‘peasant’ who came out of rural America seems to lack perspective,” said Hu Xijin, former editor of state-run Global Times.

Vance’s comments come just as Trump’s historic tariff hikes take effect, further straining US-China relations and sending ripples through global markets.

The White House has not issued a formal response to the diplomatic backlash, and Vance’s office has not commented.

Meanwhile, the fallout from the remarks is playing out on both diplomatic and digital fronts — underscoring how a single soundbite can inflame nationalist sentiment and further complicate an already delicate geopolitical standoff.