China slams JD Vance over 'Chinese peasants' comment amid tariff tensions

China issued a sharp diplomatic rebuke to US Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday after remarks he made referring to “Chinese peasants” triggered widespread outrage on Chinese social media and reignited tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

Vance, speaking last week, defended President Donald Trump’s new wave of tariffs by criticising global trade dependency.

“What has the globalist economy gotten the United States of America?” he said.

“We borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture.”The comments quickly went viral in China, sparking intense backlash online. A Weibo hashtag related to Vance’s remarks had drawn more than 140 million views by Tuesday afternoon, with users mocking Vance and defending China's technological and industrial progress.

At a press briefing in Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian directly condemned the vice president’s remarks.

“It’s both astonishing and lamentable to hear this vice president make such ignorant and disrespectful remarks,” Lin said.