Mao Ning

Notable Quotes

"China's position on tariffs is very clear: there are no winners in a tariff war, and China will firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests."

from Iran tariffs threaten to unravel the U.S.-China trade truce · Updated Jan 14

Mao Ning said Japan’s talk of exercising collective self-defense in a Taiwan contingency is unacceptable and runs counter to post-war restrictions that Japan should not ‘re-arm’, framing Tokyo as undermining regional stability. ([sb.china-embassy.gov.cn](https://sb.china-embassy.gov.cn/eng/fyrth_17/202511/t20251119_11756196.htm?utm_source=openai))

from Chinese carrier jets lock fire-control radar on Japanese fighters near Okinawa · Updated Dec 11, 2025

Stories

China's $1.2 trillion pivot

Money Moves

Active

China posted a $1.2 trillion trade surplus for 2025—the largest any country has ever recorded. The number is roughly equivalent to the GDP of Indonesia, the world's 16th-largest economy. It comes after seven years of U.S. tariffs designed to shrink that very surplus, and eight days after Canada struck a deal with Beijing that slashed Chinese EV tariffs from 100% to 6.1%, marking a dramatic shift in Western trade policy toward China that prompted Trump to threaten 100% retaliatory tariffs on Canadian goods.

Updated Jan 30

Iran tariffs threaten to unravel the U.S.-China trade truce

Rule Changes

Delivered official response to Iran tariffs

For three months, the world's two largest economies operated under a fragile ceasefire. The Trump-Xi trade deal struck in South Korea last October reduced U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods from a peak of 145% to 47%, while China suspended its rare earth export controls. On January 12, Trump imposed a 25% tariff on all countries doing business with Iran—a measure that primarily targets China, which purchases over 90% of Iran's oil exports.

Updated Jan 14

Chinese carrier jets lock fire-control radar on Japanese fighters near Okinawa

Force in Play

Publicly criticizing Japan’s Taiwan stance and framing Chinese actions as lawful defense

On December 6, 2025, two Chinese J-15 carrier-based fighter jets from the aircraft carrier Liaoning intermittently illuminated their fire-control radar on Japanese Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) F-15 fighters over international waters southeast of Okinawa, in two encounters lasting roughly three minutes and about thirty minutes respectively. Japan’s defense minister Shinjiro Koizumi denounced the radar lock-ons—which militaries treat as the step immediately before weapons launch—as “dangerous” and “extremely regrettable,” and Tokyo lodged a formal protest with Beijing. Analysts noted this was the first publicly acknowledged fire-control radar lock between Chinese and Japanese military aircraft, echoing a 2013 episode when a Chinese frigate locked weapons radar on a Japanese destroyer near the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands.

Updated Dec 11, 2025