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China refuses to kneel, U.S. allies no longer quick to compromise

Published: 07 May. 2025, 00:01

Cha Se-hyeon

The author is an editorial writer at the JoongAng Ilbo.

President Donald Trump’s assertive push to redraw global trade and security architecture is encountering firmer resistance than during his first term. This time, not only is China preparing for a protracted standoff, but several U.S. allies and friendly nations are also signaling a growing reluctance to yield.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva meets with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, in Brasilia, Brazil, April 30, 2025. [XINHUA/YONHAP]

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently posted a 2-minute, 15-second video on its official social media channels titled “China Won’t Kneel Down.” The clip draws historical parallels, highlighting Japan’s economic stagnation following the 1985 Plaza Accord and France’s dismantling of its strategic energy firm Alstom after a 2015 U.S.-driven divestiture. The video suggests that capitulation leads only to deeper exploitation. It also emphasizes that while the United States accounts for around 20 percent of global trade, the rest of the world can and should unite. “Only when every nation stands tall,” the narration declares, “can the world break through the wall of hegemony.”

The messaging is not merely symbolic. At a BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting in Brazil in late April, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned that “if we retreat through compromise, the bully will only demand more.” He called on BRICS members to defend the multilateral trade system and promote trade liberalization. Since its founding by China and Russia in 2006, the BRICS bloc has expanded to 11 members, with Indonesia joining in January.

Japan's Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato listens to a question during an interview with Reuters at the Finance Ministry in Tokyo, Japan. April 17, 2025. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva praised China’s retaliatory tariffs, calling them “admirable.” Meeting Wang in person, Lula warned that the “irresponsible and unilateral behavior of certain nations” would be met with collective resistance. With the next BRICS summit scheduled for July, speculation is mounting that member states will raise the issue of dollar hegemony despite mounting pressure from the Trump administration to accept punitive tariffs.

China’s outreach has extended beyond its traditional partners. On April 22, Wang spoke by phone with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, emphasizing that both countries share a responsibility to uphold the post-World War II international order, including the United Nations system and multilateral trade norms. On the same day, Kyodo News reported that Chinese Premier Li Qiang had sent a personal letter to Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, reportedly calling for joint resistance to U.S. protectionism.

Washington, meanwhile, is facing headwinds in trade talks with its allies. A second round of ministerial-level negotiations between the U.S. and Japan on May 1 stalled over automobile tariffs. Japan, which exports roughly 30 percent of its goods to the U.S. in the auto sector, is demanding exemptions. The U.S. insists on reciprocal adjustments with no special treatment. Prime Minister Ishiba stated bluntly that “there is no room for agreement at this time,” adding that Japan will not accept auto tariffs under any circumstance.

Amid the impasse, Tokyo appeared to flirt with an extreme retaliatory measure: selling off U.S. Treasury bonds. On May 2, Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said Japan would “carefully consider” whether to proceed with a bond sale, noting that “all cards must be on the table.” Two days later, however, he walked back the comment, likely out of concern for financial market volatility.

Japan is currently the largest holder of U.S. Treasurys, with $1.27 trillion as of March. Any significant sell-off would push yields higher, raising borrowing costs for Washington — particularly damaging given the Trump administration’s efforts to cap debt servicing expenses. In fact, when Treasury yields spiked and stock markets tumbled following Trump’s announcement of reciprocal tariffs on April 2, the White House responded by delaying implementation for 90 days. Bloomberg later noted that while Japan is unlikely to offload Treasurys en masse, “even the threat exerts pressure on U.S. markets.”

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, center, dances to Canadian band Down With Webster as they play live from campaign headquarters after the Liberal Party won the Canadian election in Ottawa on Tuesday, April 29. [AP/YONHAP]

Anti-Trump sentiment has also shaped electoral outcomes in other allied nations. In Australia’s May 3 general election, the center-left Labor Party retained power, buoyed in part by public unease with Trump. Just five days earlier, Canada’s Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, long seen as a prime minister-in-waiting, lost his longtime district — widely interpreted as voter rejection of his Trump-style rhetoric. The New York Times called Canada’s results “a referendum against Trumpism.”

Across the Atlantic, Europe is also showing signs of pushback. The United Kingdom, which formally left the European Union in 2020, is expected to unveil a new security accord with the EU during the upcoming May 19 summit. Labour Party leader and Prime Minister Keir Starmer, elected last July, has pledged to pursue a “Brexit reset” aimed at rebuilding ties with Europe — an approach reinforced by Trump’s pro-Russia stance and skepticism toward NATO.

In an essay for Foreign Affairs, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell warned that while Washington alienates its allies, “China is busy building its own.” He added that if the United States continues dismantling its alliances and retreating into hemispheric isolation, “it will weaken itself and risk losing the strategic competition of the next century.”

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.