BEIJING • The messages began to pop up on Chinese social media as the trade spat with the United States sizzled, urging people to boycott McDonald’s and other American firms to “defend the economic Great Wall”..
BEIJING • The messages began to pop up on Chinese social media as the trade spat with the United States sizzled, urging people to boycott McDonald’s and other American firms to “defend the economic Great Wall”.
US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods have roused nationalist sentiments in the world’s second-largest economy, where consumers have a long track record of spurning foreign products when political nerves are frayed.
Appeals to shun the likes of McDonald’s, KFC and Apple’s iPhone have appeared on the popular WeChat messaging app and the Weibo microblogging site in recent days.
“Compatriots, our motherland is going through a difficult time. We must unite to support our national brands and help defend the economic Great Wall!” read one message being circulated on WeChat.
The original source of the message could not be verified.
On Weibo, a car salesman from north-west China’s Gansu province wrote: “The US has fired the first salvo in this trade war.
“It’s everyone’s responsibility to boycott American goods!”
The Chinese government has hit back at US tariffs and vowed to retaliate against any new measures, but President Xi Jinping and Mr Trump delivered conciliatory words last week that raised hopes of a negotiated solution.
China’s state-run Global Times tabloid has encouraged the government to take a tough stance, with a recent editorial saying China should fight with the same spirit as during the Korean War – one that “fears no sacrifice or loss”.
