Opinion | How the trade war highlights a culture clash between Chinese patience and Trumpian instant gratification
Wei Yen says that China’s past humiliation by Western powers and the Chinese tendency to wait out confrontation mean that a long drawn-out trade war could work in the country’s favour

Despite this pressure, China is unlikely to succumb to US demands. The typically Chinese response would be to draw out the trade war to gain bargaining power.
The US has the upper hand now. After all, its economy is growing briskly, the stock market is at an all-time high, unemployment at an all-time low and capital investment robust. However, investor sentiment is notoriously fickle and the new tariffs could turn this ebullient mood on its head very quickly.
The 10 per cent tariffs on US$200 billion of new Chinese imports will target about 40 per cent of consumer goods, raising prices for consumers when it hurts most – around the Christmas shopping season.