China knows about 'humiliation'... and its leaders won't take it again

Beijing didn’t choose this trade war, but it may end up pleased the US fired that first shot, writes Isabel Hilton

- Isabel Hilton

Last week, Mao Ning, head of China’s foreign ministry information department, posted a blurry black-and-white clip of a moment in history. In 1953, Chairman Mao made a defiant speech of resistance to what he called US aggression in Korea.

Kim Il-sung, the North Korean leader and founder of the Kim dynasty, now in its third generation, had invaded US-backed South Korea. When Kim's attempt to unite Korea by force appeared to be failing, China threw nearly 3 million “volunteers” into the war and succeeded in fighting to the stalemate that has prevailed ever since.

There was no mistaking the symbolism of the image. As Donald Trump bragged to his acolytes in Washington that foreign leaders were queuing up and “kissing my ass”, Beijing was announcing a “fight to the end”.

Trump may be about to discover that it is unwise to insult Beijing. The harder he plays it, the harder Beijing will play it back.

This determination to fight to the end is both rooted in China's recent history and in concern for its future. Since the Chinese Communist party turned its guns on protesting students in Tiananmen in 1989, its propaganda has drummed the idea of a “century of humiliation” into generations of Chinese citizens.