Trump Turns Up The Heat. China Says Bring It On.

Beijing doubles down on self-reliance, vows to grow economy and military

- Jonathan Cheng & Hannah Miao

As President Trump ratchets up the political and economic pressure on China, Beijing has responded with a clear message: China will resist U.S. efforts to constrain its rise.

In the past week alone, Trump has placed tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada, the U.S.'s three biggest trading partners, and readied measures to challenge China's dominance in shipbuilding. On Friday, the president upended U.S. foreign policy by opening talks with Russia to end the war in Ukraine—a move that some believe could be aimed at driving a wedge between Moscow and Beijing.

On Wednesday, China's leaders signaled that it hasn't been thrown off by the dramatic developments in Washington. Instead, Beijing is as determined as ever to become self-sufficient and impervious to Western pressure.

"If war is what the U.S. wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we're ready to fight till the end," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said after the latest exchange of retaliatory tariffs. "Intimidation does not scare us. Bullying does not work on us. Pressuring, coercion or threats are not the right way of dealing with China. Anyone using maximum pressure on China is picking the wrong guy."

Beijing sent a similar, albeit more calibrated message, at the opening of China's annual legislative session on Wednesday, where it set an ambitious goal to expand its economy by around 5% this year, unchanged from last year, suggesting that it doesn't see its growth trajectory being derailed by Trump's actions.