Investing.com - A top Chinese official overseeing Hong Kong affairs called the U.S. tariff war "extremely shameless" and a bid to "take away Hong Kong’s life," according to Reuters.
Xia Baolong, the director of China’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office under the State Council, argued that bullying had never worked on China, the report said.
"[L]et those peasants in the United States wail in front of the 5,000 years of Chinese civilization," Xia said, adding in a televised speech that "pressure, threats and blackmail" are not the right way to deal with China.
The comments come after U.S. Vice President JD Vance said earlier this month that the U.S. trades with "Chinese peasants," a remark that drew widespread condemnation from China.
A trade war between Washington and Beijing has been rapidly escalating in recent days, with U.S. President Donald Trump hiking tariffs on China to 145%. In response, the world’s second-largest economy has raised its own import duties on the U.S. to 125%.
Last Friday, the Trump administration temporarily paused the duties on a wide range of electronics largely imported from China, bolstering sentiment following a period of massive volatility in stock and bond markets.
As a special administration region of China that is no longer considered by Washington to be a separate entity, Hong Kong is subject to the U.S. tariffs. However, unlike mainland China, Hong Kong -- an international free trade hub -- does not plan to impose retaliatory levies on the U.S., Chief Executive John Lee has said.
(Reuters contributed reporting.)