China’s US Embassy takes swipe at ‘China shock’ narrative in song video
The Chinese Embassy in the United States has turned to music and humour to take a jap what it says is a Western tendency to alter the narrative whenever China excels in key industries.
In a 56-second video posted on social media on Wednesday, the embassy mocked the so-called “China shock” narrative that often surfaces in Western media when China outperforms the United States in a particular field.
The clip features a cartoon eagle — a stand-in for the US — singing to a panda representing China.
Through the song, the embassy delivers pointed jabs at what it portrays as hypocrisy in Western criticism of China, particularly over manufacturing and trade in electric vehicles, solar energy and technology.
“Great ideas until China checks,” the video declares.
“When we lead, it’s ‘progress, wow.’ When China leads, it’s ‘overcapacity now,’” the eagle sings.
The embassy also leans into China’s reputation as a manufacturing powerhouse.
For years, the surplus of “made in China” labels has been a running joke in the West, often implying poor quality. The video flips that trope, presenting China’s industrial capacity as a source of resentment rather than ridicule.
It further accuses Western media of framing China’s rise through a distorted lens.
“We preach ‘fair play,’ ‘open the gate,’ feels fair till China’s moving too great,” the eagle sings.
Trade tensions between Beijing and Washington intensified under President Donald Trump, during both his first and second terms in office.
Trump accused China of using “vicious trade tactics” and of violating a temporary trade truce earlier last year, and at one point threatened to impose a 100% tariff on Chinese goods entering the US.
For the Chinese Embassy, however, China’s industrial success is not the real problem behind the backlash.
“The real China shock? Can’t stand them rise.”
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
