China's trade/tech measures are lawful and normal; the US is the aggressor

The position holds that China's trade and technology measures, including tariffs, export controls and its handling of critical minerals, are lawful, consistent with WTO rules and defensive. In its account it is Washington that weaponises tariffs and export controls, which makes Beijing's response legitimate. Its advocates speak of unilateral coercion, containment, bullying and hegemony, and set against them win-win cooperation, mutual respect and a multipolar order.

The position appears in Chinese state framing and in Russian outlets. It shows up on US-China economic and technological competition, on summit diplomacy, on the race in artificial intelligence, on trade and tariffs, on export controls and semiconductor access, and on critical minerals. It also appears on Chinese economic and travel restrictions on Japan, where it takes the form of a claim of lawful regulation.

One opposing position says China is a strategic competitor whose coercion and unfair practices justify firmness, derisking, export controls and allied coordination. Another says tariffs and trade coercion are self-defeating and raise costs for whoever imposes them. The events of recent months centre on Xi Jinping's state visit to Washington, where both sides extended their tariff truce, published lists of goods for tariff cuts and spoke of cooperation, while China and Russia criticised US policy at the UN.