Chinese Diplomat Mocks White House Press Secretary For Wearing 'Made In China' Dress Amid Tariff Tensions
As China’s trade war spilled onto the internet, Chinese supporters targeted White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who was wearing a red dress which was reportedly made in China.
Chinese diplomat Zhang Zhisheng criticised Leavitt for wearing a dress made from Chinese lace, pointing out the contrast between the Trump administration's harsh trade rhetoric and the everyday realities of global commerce. This became viral on the internet, especially in Chinese social media.
The Consul General of the People's Republic of China in Denpasar, Indonesia, Zhang shared a picture on X of the dress.
Zhang wrote in the post, "Accusing China is business. Buying in China is life. The beautiful lace on the dress was recognized by an employee of a Chinese company as its product".
The Consul General also included screenshots from Weibo users.
A user commented that the lace on Leavitt's dress came from a factory in Mabu, China, where they work.
Some X users wrote in Leavitt’s defence and said that the Chinese dress maybe fake. "Chinese people are notorious for bootleg clothes. It's more likely that they copied a luxury brand's jacket," suggested a user.
Another said, "Fake news. She's wearing the French original whereas the advert shows a Chinese copy. It's funny indeed, but the spin of the tweet is dishonest."
Some accused her of hypocrisy for donning Chinese-made products while voicing strong public criticism against China. However, others highlighted that Donald Trump's 'Make America Great Again' (MAGA) merchandise has been produced in China since as early as 2016.
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Vance’s ‘Ignorant & Disrespectful’ Remarks
This controversy comes nearly a week after US Vice President JD Vance was criticised for referring to Chinese workers as “peasants”. During a Fox News interview, Vance defended President Donald Trump’s tariffs and railed against the “globalist economy.”
“What has the globalist economy gotten the United States of America? And the answer is, fundamentally, it’s based on two principles – incurring a huge amount of debt to buy things that other countries make for us,” Vance said.
“To make it a little more crystal clear, we borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture.”
After his comment, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said, “It’s both astonishing and lamentable to hear this vice president make such ignorant and disrespectful remarks,” as per a report by CNN.
“This true ‘peasant’ who came out of rural America seems to have a lack of perspective,” said Hu Xijin, the former editor-in-chief of China’s state-run tabloid Global Times, said in a post on Weibo. “Many people are urging him to come and see China for himself,” he added.
A hashtag related to Vance’s remarks quickly became the top trending topic on Weibo on Monday night. By Tuesday afternoon, it had garnered 140 million views, reported CNN.
A user embraced the term “peasant” and wrote, “We may be peasants, but we have the world’s best high-speed rail system, the most powerful logistics capabilities, and leading AI, autonomous driving, and drone technologies. Aren’t such peasants quite impressive?”.
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