"Emphasizing addressing both the symptoms and root causes and strengthening the foundation while nourishing the source, TCM offers useful references for moving beyond tariff war and trade war," Ambassador Xie Feng said at the Traditional Chinese Medicine Culture Open Day event at the embassy on Saturday.

Xie likened international trade disputes to health issues that require long-term care, warning that short-term remedies — or prescriptions imposed on others for one's own illness — could worsen the situation.

To illustrate his point, Xie said global growth has stalled not because of external threats but because of internal stagnation.

"The main reason why global growth has hit a bottleneck is because it lacks momentum," he said. "So instead of fighting over the existing turf, a wiser solution will be making the pie bigger from a long-term perspective."

The ambassador's remarks follow reports that the White House claimed Chinese imports to the US face tariffs of up to 245 percent. Beijing responded that it would ignore the US' "tariff numbers game" and "fight to the end" to protect its rights and interests.

On Thursday, China's Ministry of Commerce said China has maintained communications with its US counterparts, a statement that seemed to have been confirmed by US President Donald Trump, who told reporters on Friday that "we have nice conversations going with China".

Xie cautioned against the detrimental effects of protectionist policies, drawing historical parallels to the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which is widely regarded as having exacerbated the Great Depression.

"Tariff barriers would clog the flow of international trade and devastate the health of the world economy," he said. "Tributaries will dry up when there is no water in the main river."

Highlighting the interconnectedness of global economies, Xie noted that weaponizing interdependence would only lead to self-isolation and backfire.

He advocated for a cooperative approach that focuses on expanding the global economic pie, instead of "fighting over the existing turf".

Drawing further analogies from TCM, Xie emphasized the importance of harmony and balance, akin to the concept of balancing the opposing forces of yin and yang.

"A good traditional Chinese medicine recipe usually combines many different ingredients which reinforce one another and create the best medical effect," he said.

"Likewise, the Earth is big enough to accommodate both China and the US. We should pursue peaceful coexistence rather than collide head-on and help each other succeed, rather than get caught in a lose-lose scenario."

Xie highlighted TCM's role in fostering people-to-people exchanges, mentioning acupuncture demonstrations during Nixon's 1972 visit to China and a viral livestream of an American YouTuber who experienced headache relief in three minutes after pulse diagnosis and acupuncture.

Xie also said acupuncture is legally recognized in 47 US states and in Washington DC. Also, a growing number of Americans are becoming fans of taijiquan, baduanjin and other traditional Chinese exercises.

Tai chi, or taijiquan, in its Chinese name, was placed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list. It is a traditional physical practice characterized by relaxed, circular movements synchronized with breath regulation and cultivating a righteous and neutral mind.

"All these have forged close ties between our people, which should not be cut off," Xie said.

Still, Xie struck a firm tone on China's bottom line. "China firmly opposes tariff war or trade war of any form," he said. "If any country insists on imposing tariff war or trade war on us, we will definitely face it fearlessly and take resolute countermeasures."

He contrasted protectionism with China's recent economic activity, particularly expos and trade fairs, which showed growing foreign interest and investment amid international economic and trade disruptions.

"In the first quarter, China's GDP grew 5.4 percent year-over-year. … The total value of China's imports and exports in the period set a new record high," he said, adding that more than half of that trade was with Belt and Road Initiative countries.

"All these have testified to the strong resilience and bright prospects of the Chinese economy," he said.

Concluding his speech with an ancient Chinese saying — "The greatest physicians save a country; the second greatest save individuals," Xie said that Chinese civilization advocates promoting the common good of the entire world and benefiting each human being.

"Time has proven and will continue to prove how far China's recipe will go," he said.

From Chinadaily.com.cn