Mao’s protracted war insights offered as inspiration in US-China trade conflict

China’s state media has urged the public to revisit Mao Zedong’s famous 1938 essay “On Protracted War”, saying that it offers “great inspiration for the international struggles of the new era” amid the protracted economic hostilities with the US.

The call to throw off attitudes of a defeatist mindset as well as the illusions of a quick win came nearly a month after the Donald Trump administration’s “Liberation Day” tariff plan, which triggered an escalating tit-for-tat trade battle between China and the US.

Washington has imposed tariffs totalling 145 per cent on goods from China so far this year, bringing the effective tariff rate to about 156 per cent. Beijing has responded with a rise to 125 per cent in duties on its imports from the US.

“The situation has evolved far beyond what the US side anticipated,” the commentary said in Beijing Daily, mouthpiece for the ruling party’s municipal committee in the capital.

“Not only was the Chinese government the first to clearly state the firm stance of ‘fighting to the end’, but the voices from the international community opposing bullying have also grown louder.”

South China Morning Post