BEIJING — As President Donald Trump gave a fiery and divisive speech to a joint session of Congress last week, a much more staid political event was underway on the other side of the world.
The annual gathering of the National People’s Congress, China’s parliament, is tightly choreographed, with all decisions made in advance by the ruling Chinese Communist Party. Security is even tighter than usual around central Beijing and armies of volunteers wearing red armbands are stationed on street corners and at subway stations.
Though there are few surprises and no debate, the weeklong National People’s Congress does offer clues to China’s priorities at home and how it plans to approach the world.
Even as it faces a slowing economy, China appears to be making a strategic decision to present itself as a global stalwart amid a world in turmoil as Trump upends international trade and long-standing alliances, eroding U.S. prestige and creating an opportunity for China to fill the void.
Delegates and security before the opening session of the National People’s Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday.Kevin Frayer / Getty Images
As if to underscore China’s relative steadfastness, Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi rarely gestured or moved his hands at his annual news conference on Friday. He used the word “stability” at least 14 times during 90 minutes in front of reporters, according to Chinese transcripts.
Some of his sharpest language was directed at the Trump administration, which last week doubled tariffs on Chinese imports to 20% and said there could be more to come.
“No country should expect to suppress and contain China on one hand while developing good relations with China on the other,” Wang said, slamming what he called a “two-faced approach.”
China has long complained about U.S. tariffs, which in the first Trump administration set off a trade war between the world’s two biggest economies. But at least outwardly, China doesn’t appear overly concerned about the impact of the new tariffs or in a rush to placate Trump to stave off more.
“Nobody worries about it,” tech executive Yao Lijun told NBC News on Wednesday as he walked out of the Great Hall of the People, an ornate building next to Tiananmen Square in Beijing where some 3,000 Chinese leaders and lawmakers were gathered for the NPC.
“We only focus on ourselves, how we can do much better,” he said. “We don’t worry about others.”
China responded to the new tariff on Tuesday by announcing targeted tariffs of up to 15% on some U.S. goods, mostly agricultural products, in a measured move similar to the levies it imposed when the first 10% tariff took effect last month.
“Appearing alarmed or alarmist is not something Beijing wants to communicate, because that’s precisely what Trump is trying to elicit,” said Josef Gregory Mahoney, a professor of politics and international relations at East China Normal University in Shanghai.