Key to US tariff war with Beijing: The value China places on 鈥榝ace鈥�
The concept of 鈥渇ace,鈥� key to social relations in China, will play a large part in helping or hindering Washington in its trade dispute with Beijing.
The concept of 鈥渇ace,鈥� key to social relations in China, will play a large part in helping or hindering Washington in its trade dispute with Beijing.
The way Beijing sees it, a resolution of the current trade war with the United States will take more than simply lower tariffs. It will require a significant increase in the value of an all-important Chinese commodity: 鈥渇ace.鈥�
In traditional Chinese culture, face, or mianzi, means pride, honor, and prestige. Losing it amounts to shame. 鈥淭rees can鈥檛 live without bark, men can鈥檛 live without face,鈥� goes a Chinese saying. From small gestures such as the giving of gifts to the intricacies of global diplomacy, Chinese keep track of gains and losses in the critical currency of face.
It is a concept enshrined in Chinese leader Xi Jinping鈥檚 central goal for China 鈥� to achieve national rejuvenation after what is known here as the 鈥渃entury of humiliation鈥� between the mid-1800s and the mid-1900s at the hands of Western colonial powers and Japan. China, Mr. Xi says, must regain its rightful place in the world 鈥� and, with it, national pride.
It is because of face that U.S. President Donald Trump risks waiting indefinitely for Mr. Xi to call him up to start trade talks 鈥� even after Mr. Trump goaded Mr. Xi on Tuesday by saying, through a White House spokesperson, that 鈥渢he ball is in China鈥檚 court.鈥�
Risking national shame
In China, if Mr. Xi picked up the phone he would be seen by many as bowing down to Mr. Trump, incurring a loss of face 鈥撀爊ot only for himself, but for the Chinese people as a whole.
Making matters worse, from Beijing鈥檚 perspective, the Trump administration has done little so far to instill confidence that it is sensitive to concerns about face, experts say.
Take Mr. Trump鈥檚 televised dressing-down of Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House in February.
That scene 鈥渃ertainly discouraged Xi Jinping from wanting any kind of meeting with Trump in the Oval Office,鈥� says Susan Shirk, a research professor at the University of California, San Diego. 鈥淭here is not the minimal level of trust鈥� for serious negotiations, let alone for a state visit by Mr. Xi to Washington, she says.
This month, in a televised interview, Vice President JD Vance referred to Chinese people as 鈥減easants鈥� 鈥� a remark widely viewed in China as insulting and 鈥渄isrespectful,鈥� in the words of Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian.
Beijing hinted at its face considerations this week, reportedly setting preconditions for talks with the United States that included 鈥済reater respect 鈥� specifically, reining in disparaging remarks by Trump鈥檚 cabinet members,鈥� according to an article in the Chinese financial publication Caixin Global.
To minimize the risk of such face-jeopardizing encounters, Beijing has for months sought to forge back-channel communications with Washington, allowing for the quiet diplomacy that China consistently favors.
Signaling that Beijing remains open to talks, the Ministry of Commerce has named a new senior trade negotiator, Li Chenggang, and reportedly asked Washington to appoint a counterpart. It says that 鈥渨orking level鈥� communications with Washington are ongoing.
Yet China鈥檚 imperative to save face will dictate its overarching approach to talks, as a senior Chinese official made clear this week in a blustering defense of national pride.
鈥淚t is extremely naive to think that by flattering, bowing down to, or pleading with the U.S., we can achieve peace, respect, and development,鈥� said Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, in a speech on Tuesday.
鈥淭he U.S. isn鈥檛 after our tariffs,鈥� he said, 鈥渋t is after our very survival. ... Let those American peasants wail before the 5,000-year-old civilization of the Chinese nation!鈥�