The United States President, Donald Trump’s relentless habit of slapping tariffs on other countries has created what I can without doubt call “the politics of beam balance”—with Trump’s tariff situation on one hand and China’s President, Xi Jinping’s inclusivity on the other. ‌

In other words, Trump’s tariff situation lands us in a more direct situation of “protectionism” versus “inclusivity” in which the president of the US is hungry and longs for a solution that can at least cause equilibrium—a sigh of relief from China’s ever growing economic prowess as the world’s second largest economy which even threatens the United States’ long-term known superiority which politicians in Washington wrongly believe is a preserve of only the US!

Ever since the liberal French economist and businessman, Jean-Baptiste Say, coined the term “protectionism.” President Trump’s tariffs on other countries have given the term a fresh breath of practical existence with a great force even much more than the term had gained widespread use in the mid-20th century during heavy industrialisation, trade agreements and economic nationalism.

However, from my angle of perspective, to break China’s economic backbone and strength, trade tariffs against China cannot be a viable solution, but rather an economic self-torment on Trump’s side. His tariffs, which are in all design a gamble to contain China’s rise, will certainly boomerang! China is not only the second-largest global power but also a mirror that plays a role in exposing the US indirectly across the globe.

Whichever steps Trump takes against China, they leave the US isolated and vulnerable. Secondly, it is not just about tariffs that China’s economic power can be realized. However, it requires a deep analysis of the core factors that have made China achieve its position today. Such a core factor is inclusivity.

Just like the prominent American poet and novelist, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, asserted that, “The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight;but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night”. China’s rise to global prominence should not be viewed as a sudden and an unexpected phenomenon. As such, no country should be tempted to believe that the same country’s prowess could be taken down suddenly by tariffs. There is a dire need to closely examine China's foreign policy, in which the major tenet is building a community of shared future for mankind, mutual respect and win-win cooperation with the rest of the world.

To realise this, a quick dive into China’s history clearly shows that from Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms in the 1970s to Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) today, China's leadership has consistently pursued a long-term vision for the country's global engagement and building a world where every country thrives with others in harmony rather than hegemony. This is the starting point of “inclusivity”, which from the beginning was and is still deeply rooted in China’s steps to her development.

In just two years after the death of Chairman Mao, China’s Deng Xiaoping introduced several reforms, but the most intriguing one among all was the Economic Liberalisation reform. This was meant to revive China’s economy from shambles and shift it from a centrally planned economy, as it had been stagnated by the Gang of Four, to a market-oriented economy through the 1978 policy “Reform and Opening-Up.” Under this policy, Deng Xiaoping encouraged private enterprise, foreign investment and trade.

Soon after 1978, in his opening speech at the twelfth National Congress of the Communist Party of China on 1st September 1982, Deng Xiaoping emphasised the policy of “Opening to the outside world.” This was the kick-start to inclusivity. In his own words, he remarked that “We shall unswervingly follow a policy of opening to the outside world and increase our exchanges with foreign countries on the basis of equality and mutual benefit.”

It is from this point that terms like “win-win” cooperation gained observance on the international scene, especially with their roots traced not elsewhere but from Asia and China in particular. This is so simply because China started identifying itself with the rest of the world. It realised that it could peacefully and harmoniously develop and coexist with other nations.

China’s intensified spirit of inclusivity gained much momentum during Deng Xiaoping's era. For example, on May 7, 1978, amidst the struggle to achieve the four modernisations, Xiaoping remarked that, “Once we have accomplished the four modernisations and the national economy has expanded, our contributions to mankind, and especially to the Third World, will be greater. As a socialist country, China shall always belong to the Third World and shall never seek hegemony. This idea is understandable because China is still quite poor, and is therefore a Third World country in the real sense of the term.

The question is whether or not China will practice hegemony when it becomes more developed in the future. My friends, you are younger than I, so you will be able to see for yourselves what happens at the time.If it remains a socialist country, China will not practice hegemony, and it will belong to the Third World. Should China become arrogant, however, and act like an overlord and give orders to the world, it would no longer be considered a Third World country. Indeed, it would cease to be a socialist country.

That is enough, indicating how China had set itself to coexist with the world, identify itself with the rest of the world and foster development for all. Most especially, the development of Third World countries was given much attention. It is thus not surprising that by 1976, as poor as China was and economically staggering, the Tazara Railway—linking Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia had been completed. This railway, one of China's most iconic early projects in Africa, remained a focal point of Sino-Africa cooperation during 1982-1990.

In the past previous days, President Trump branded China “the biggest abuser of tariffs.” This is part of the reflection that he is realising the impracticality of his tariffs. Moments before, we had witnessed China, Japan and South Korea reaching an agreement to jointly respond to US tariffs. This further reflects the spirit of inclusivity which China has groomed in other countries where it operates.

It is worth noting that by 2024, Africa-China trade reached $300b (sh1,098 trillion) while that of Africa-US hit $72b (sh263.7 trillion). This serves to reflect China as the biggest African trade partner over the US. This clearly shows that China is not relying on exports to the US as a sole consumer and market. It learned so quickly that the US is a camouflaged economy, especially one that prides itself on tariffs and sanctions.

As a result, China intensified its spirit of inclusivity and shifted its goal posts to other countries, like in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), in Africa and the Middle East. Her foreign policy has been heavily built on principles of mutual respect, amity, and win-win cooperation, and China has been a firm supporter of other countries’ development efforts, emphasising the need to support and build a community of shared future and prosperity for mankind.

About the author:

Abdurahim Ssemanda, research fellow at the Development Watch Centre, Uganda. This article was culled from the New Vision, April 22, 2025.