Chinese State Media Rebuke Trump’s Tariffs With AI Song and Film
The video portrays China as a strong and united nation against external threats. It conveys a message of resilience and determination in the face of economic challenges. The use of music and visuals in the video aims to evoke national pride and solidarity among Chinese citizens. This propaganda effort reflects the Chinese government's strategy to shape public opinion and garner support for its policies. The video underscores the ongoing tensions between China and the United States over trade issues.
Leaders around the world have responded to U.S. President Donald Trump’s shocking new tariffs that threaten to upend the global economy with stern words and denunciations. But Chinese state media have offered a different approach.
CGTN's Music Video Response
“‘Liberation Day,’ you promised us the stars,” sings a female-sounding voice over images of Trump. “But tariffs killed our cheap Chinese cars.” A 2-minute, 42-second music video—titled “Look What You Taxed Us Through (An AI-Generated Song. A Life-Choking Reality)”—was published on April 3 by the Chinese state news network CGTN.
“For many Americans, ‘Liberation Day’ hailed by Trump administration will mean shrinking paychecks and rising costs. Tariffs hit, wallets quit: low-income families take the hardest blow. As the market holds its breath, the toll is already undeniable. Numbers don’t lie. Neither does the cost of this so-called ‘fairness,’” CGTN captioned the video on its website. “Warning: Track is AI-generated. The debt crisis? 100 percent human-made.”
The lyrics, displayed in English and Chinese, appear to rebuke Trump’s tariffs from the point of view of the American consumer, and it’s addressed directly to the U.S. President.
New China TV's Sci-Fi Short Film
Experts have warned that American consumers will bear much of the costs of Trump’s tariffs, which are taxes on imports, and U.S. recession indicators have risen since the White House’s April 2 “reciprocal” tariff rollout. At the same time, global markets have been shocked at a level not seen since the pandemic.
CGTN isn’t the only state media outlet to use AI to slam Trump’s trade policy. New China TV, the English-language social-media-focused brand of China’s official state news service Xinhua, also published on April 3 a three-minute, 18-second sci-fi short called “T.A.R.I.F.F.”
China's Ministry for Foreign Affairs Response
On April 3, following Trump’s latest tariffs announcement, China’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs posted on social media a video featuring a mix of seemingly AI-generated images and real ones, to the soundtrack of John Lennon’s “Imagine” and USA for Africa’s “We Are the World.” It asked the question: “What kind of world do you want to live in?” offering the choice between our “imperfect world” with things like “greed” and “tariffs” and an alternative utopia with “shared prosperity” and “global solidarity.”
To be sure, the latter is certainly not the reality in China. And for now, it appears far from possible for the world.
Beijing has made its displeasure with Trump’s tariffs—which began targeting China in his first term—well known. The latest “reciprocal” rate of 34% comes on top of 20% levies announced earlier this year. Beijing has over the years implemented “tit-for-tat” countermeasures and has vowed to continue as long as the trade war persists, warning earlier this year: “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 until the end.”