Xi Jinping and the rest of the Chinese leadership is defying Donald Trump in the tariff duel – and positioning itself as a more reliable superpower. The nation has been expecting this moment.
Author: Jens Mühling
With ZEIT since 2023, previously editor at “stern”, “Capital”, the “Tagesspiegel” and the “Moskauer Deutsche Zeitung”. Author of several books of reports on Russia, Ukraine and the Black Sea. ZEIT correspondent in Shanghai since 2024.
Trump’s tariffs are putting China’s shaky growth at serious risk. The standoff threatens to escalate across the globe, and the worst-case scenario would find the world’s two superpowers turning to other means.
China’s economy is doing badly. The party leadership will not tolerate criticism of its course, but is looking for ways out of the crisis. These five problems could hinder China’s growth for a long time.
As the People’s Republic of China turns 75, journalist Jens Mühling attempts to visit Tiananmen Square, where the country’s great dramas have always taken place.