China social media army ‘mocks’ Trump over tariff ‘bomb’ with viral memes and cartoons

China is responding to US "hegemony and bullying" with more tariffs on US goods and a humorous online campaign. The army of social media soldiers is now creating cartoons, memes, and posters attacking US President Donald Trump.

Defiant posts shot to the top of social media's most-searched lists, flooding platforms with patronising comments and jokes, news agency AFP reported. The report said China's online warriors have been taking advantage of the massive strides in artificial intelligence to create memes.

Besides, Chinese censors appeared to be carefully curating public discussion about the US tariffs. According to the New York Times, some hashtags that focused more squarely on mocking the US, or on touting China’s strengths, were allowed to trend on China's X-like Weibo platform.

Most of them were explicitly initiated by state media. For example, “America is fighting a trade war while begging for eggs” was one popular hashtag started by CCTV, China’s state broadcaster. “China does not provoke trouble but is never afraid of it” was another, NYT reported.

Meanwhile, all comments under the hashtag "The United States will impose a 104% tariff on Chinese goods" were removed. It reflected the message: “Sorry, the content of this topic is not displayed.”

Viral memes: 'All of China is laughing at Trump'

Here's a look at some viral memes shared by Chinese social media users:

In one video, a Chinese internet user opens his hands to reveal what goods he buys from the United States — nothing. As per AFP, his dozens of videos railing against the US accumulated tens of millions of views on TikTok.

Meanwhile, AI-generated videos putting Trump, US Vice President JD Vance and billionaire Elon Musk on footwear and iPhone assembly lines quickly went viral.

One video showed "AI-Generated videos depicting MAGA supporters - including Trump himself - working in [an 'American factory'] warehouses sewing and manufacturing."

Another depicted Americans as overweight and working in a textile factory. The video was reportedly viewed nearly 20 million times on X with more than 227,000 likes. One clip taunted, “You taxed each truck, you taxed each tire. Midwest burnin’ in your Dumpster fire.”

Another showed rows of befuddled overweight shophands fiddling with sewing machines as Americans make clothes, shoes and electronic devices.

Another post shared by Beijing's foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning showed Trump's trademark "MAGA" hat marked “Made in China” — with a price tag indicating an increased cost.

One social media user said, “Chinese socials are spreading this one, all of China is laughing at Trump today.”

Viral cartoons and caricatures: A game of poker

One of the viral cartoons, purportedly published in a Chinese newspaper, showed everything around Trump marked as "Made in China" — only his "fart" was marked with "Made in America".

The "Chinese cartoon perfectly mocks Trump’s economic policy. Everything made in the USA is actually made in China...Except for the wind — that one came out of Trump himself," a social media user said.

The Chinese embassy in the US also shared a couple of hard-hitting posters against Trump and his reciprocal tariffs. One such poster read "The art of the deal" and showed a fan of cards with percentage numbers written on them. The scenario resembled a game of poker and “purportedly showed Trump choosing a new tariff rate.”

Another graphic cartoon, created by China Daily cartoonist Luo Jie, showed a tariff "bomb". The Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco posted this cartoon on X and wrote, “Thomas L. Friedman: Instead of making it the whole industrial world against China, Trump made it America against the whole industrial world and China.”

The Chinese embassy shared another post, mocking Trump's decision to raise import taxes even further on China to punish the Xi-Jinping-led country for retaliating against US tariffs.