As tensions between the world’s two largest economies intensified following the implementation of sweeping new US tariffs, Chinese authorities moved swiftly to erase domestic discussion of the issue from the country’s tightly controlled digital landscape.
By Wednesday of last week, attempts to search for terms such as “tariff” or “104” — the percentage of the new US duties imposed on Chinese imports — were met with error messages on Weibo, a popular Chinese social media platform. According to Reuters, the censorship sidelined substantive discourse even as posts mocking the United States remained prominently displayed.
While official narratives sought to ridicule the US, amplifying hashtags like “#UShastradewarandaneggshortage” launched by state broadcaster CCTV, more critical or analytical takes on the trade conflict, particularly those reflecting internal economic anxieties or unfavorable outcomes for Chinese exporters, disappeared from view. WeChat, another widely used platform, also removed numerous posts from Chinese firms outlining the economic blowback of the tariffs. The removed posts bore a uniform message citing “violations of relevant laws, regulations, and policies.”
CCTV accused the US of hypocrisy, writing that Washington was “waving the tariff stick in a high profile manner, imposing tariffs on EU steel and aluminum products...but also writing letters to European countries in a low voice, urgently asking for eggs.”
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