China slams VP JD Vance over ‘Chinese peasants’ remark, internet erupts in backlash
Shreedhar Rathi | Apr 09, 2025, 00:05 IST
Vice President JD Vance's reference to "Chinese peasants" during a Fox News interview has ignited a firestorm of criticism in China. The Foreign Ministry condemned Vance's remarks as ignorant and disrespectful, while social media users highlighted the irony of his comments given his own working-class background. The controversy unfolds amid escalating tensions between the U.S. and China following new tariffs.
China issued a sharp rebuke Tuesday to U.S. Vice President JD Vance following controversial comments he made referring to “Chinese peasants” during a recent television interview. The remarks, made on Fox News last week, have sparked a wave of criticism online in China, with many drawing attention to Vance’s own working-class background.
In the interview, Vance defended President Trump’s sweeping new tariffs and criticized the global economic system. “What has the globalist economy gotten the United States of America?” he said on Fox & Friends. “We borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture.”
The comments were quickly picked up by Chinese media and social platforms, prompting a fiery response from the Foreign Ministry. “It’s both astonishing and lamentable to hear this vice president make such ignorant and disrespectful remarks,” said spokesperson Lin Jian during a press briefing in Beijing.
Clips of the interview went viral on Weibo, China’s dominant social media platform, where a hashtag related to Vance’s comments topped the trending list and garnered over 140 million views. Users slammed the vice president’s statement as “arrogant and rude,” with many pointing to the irony of Vance—author of the memoir Hillbilly Elegy, which chronicles his upbringing in poverty-stricken Appalachia—mocking working-class people abroad.
“This true ‘peasant’ who came out of rural America seems to have a lack of perspective,” wrote Hu Xijin, former editor-in-chief of the state-run Global Times, in a widely shared post.
Others used the moment to highlight China’s technological and industrial advances. “We may be peasants, but we have the world’s best high-speed rail, the most powerful logistics capabilities, and leading AI and drone technologies,” one popular comment read.
As of Tuesday, Vice President Vance’s office had not responded to CNN’s request for comment.
The controversy comes amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and China following Trump’s latest round of tariffs, which have shaken financial markets and drawn criticism from trade experts and lawmakers alike.
In the interview, Vance defended President Trump’s sweeping new tariffs and criticized the global economic system. “What has the globalist economy gotten the United States of America?” he said on Fox & Friends. “We borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture.”
The comments were quickly picked up by Chinese media and social platforms, prompting a fiery response from the Foreign Ministry. “It’s both astonishing and lamentable to hear this vice president make such ignorant and disrespectful remarks,” said spokesperson Lin Jian during a press briefing in Beijing.
Clips of the interview went viral on Weibo, China’s dominant social media platform, where a hashtag related to Vance’s comments topped the trending list and garnered over 140 million views. Users slammed the vice president’s statement as “arrogant and rude,” with many pointing to the irony of Vance—author of the memoir Hillbilly Elegy, which chronicles his upbringing in poverty-stricken Appalachia—mocking working-class people abroad.
“This true ‘peasant’ who came out of rural America seems to have a lack of perspective,” wrote Hu Xijin, former editor-in-chief of the state-run Global Times, in a widely shared post.
Others used the moment to highlight China’s technological and industrial advances. “We may be peasants, but we have the world’s best high-speed rail, the most powerful logistics capabilities, and leading AI and drone technologies,” one popular comment read.
As of Tuesday, Vice President Vance’s office had not responded to CNN’s request for comment.
The controversy comes amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and China following Trump’s latest round of tariffs, which have shaken financial markets and drawn criticism from trade experts and lawmakers alike.