Over the last few days, Chinese state media have been posting an old video of Mao Zedong issuing one of his most famous battle cries. “For as long as they want to fight,” he shouts from behind a row of microphones, “we will fight!”

过去几天里，中国官方媒体一直在发布一段毛泽东发表其最著名战斗口号的旧视频。“他们要打多久就打多久，”他在一排麦克风后高呼。

Speaking in 1953, China’s former leader was referring to the United States, which it fought during the Korean War. Today, Beijing portrays itself as fighting a different but no less existential battle with its old rival, as the two countries engage in a deepening trade war that threatens to engulf the global economy.

这位前中国领导人在1953年的这段讲话针对的是朝鲜战争中的对手美国。如今，随着美中贸易战不断升级、冲突威胁全球经济，北京将当前局势描绘成与老对手之间一场性质不同但同样关乎存亡的较量。

The latest round includes U.S. threats of 100 percent tariffs — a response to Beijing’s announcement last week of new export controls over rare earth minerals — as well as port fees levied by both countries, Chinese sanctions on U.S. shipping subsidiaries and a possible U.S. ban on Chinese cooking oil imports.

最新一轮举措包括美国威胁征收100%的关税——这是对北京上周宣布对稀土矿物实施新出口管制的回应、两国互征的港口费用、中国对美国航运子公司的制裁，还有美国可能禁止进口中国食用油。

Faced with the breakdown of what was a fragile truce between the two countries after months of tit-for-tat retaliation, China’s propaganda machine went to work this week, rallying citizens with messages of resilience and patriotism. At the same time, state media and officials have held back from more strident language — a sign that the Chinese leadership is still leaving room for reconciliation with the United States.

在经历了数月的针锋相对的报复行动之后，两国之间脆弱的休战状态破裂，中国的宣传机器本周开始运作，通过宣传坚韧和爱国的信息来团结民众。与此同时，官方媒体和官员们没有使用更激烈的言辞，这表明中国领导层仍为与美国和解保留了余地。

“They don’t want to box themselves in,” said Dali Yang, a professor at the University of Chicago who researches Chinese politics. He said that years of hawkish “wolf warrior” diplomacy had taught China’s leaders the dangers of fanning nationalism.

“他们不想把自己逼进死角，”研究中国政治的芝加哥大学教授杨大利说。他说，多年强硬的“战狼外交”让中国领导人认识到了煽动民族主义的危险。

“Sometimes, when public sentiment was so mobilized, it was hard for the authorities to de-escalate and sometimes, in the process, that made them look bad,” he said.

“有时候，当公众情绪被过度煽动，当局很难缓和局势，而且在这个过程中，有时会损害他们自身的形象，”他说。

The current trade tensions come at a time when China is struggling with deflation, a flagging property market and stubbornly high youth unemployment, as well as trade restrictions imposed by the United States and other countries.

当前的贸易紧张局势出现之际，中国正面临通缩、房地产市场低迷、青年失业率居高不下，以及美国和其他国家实施的贸易限制。

周三，北京某超市货架上的食用油。

Yet, it is also a time of optimism. China’s advances in artificial intelligence, success in finding new export markets and its surging domestic stock market are ballast for even more aggressive action by the government. Chinese state media have framed Beijing’s new rules on rare earths as its boldest move yet.

但这也是一个充满乐观情绪的时期。中国在人工智能方面的进步、在寻找新出口市场方面的成功，以及国内股市的飙升为政府采取更积极的行动提供了支撑。中国官方媒体将北京对稀土的新规定描述为迄今为止最大胆的举措。

“Chinese people increasingly understand that a single blow is enough to prevent a hundred blows,” Chao Xing, a commentator wrote in the state-run Beijing Daily on Tuesday. “This courage and determination to remain unyielding in the face of difficulties has solidified public support for the Chinese government to take further forceful measures to address external challenges.”

“国人愈发清醒地认识到：‘打得一拳开，免得百拳来’，”评论员晁星周二在官方媒体《北京日报》上写道。“这种在困难面前不低头的胆量与决心，为我国政府进一步采取有力措施应对外部挑战夯实了民意基础。”

Commentators in other outlets described Beijing’s latest measure as a “fatal blow” and a way of giving the United States, which restricts exports of U.S. technology to China, a “taste of its own medicine.”

其他媒体的评论员将北京的最新举措描述为“必要之举”，是对限制向中国出口美国技术的美国“以其人之道还治其人之身”的一种方式。

China mines and processes the vast majority of the world’s rare earths, an essential component needed for everything from semiconductors to cars. Previous controls by Beijing in April upended U.S. manufacturers and caused shortages around the world.

中国开采和加工世界上绝大多数的稀土，这是从半导体到汽车等一切产品所需的关键成分。北京4月的管制已经扰乱了美国制造商的生产，并导致全球范围内的供应短缺。

The renewal of trade tensions has put an anticipated meeting this month between Mr. Trump and Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader, into question.

贸易紧张局势的再次升级让原定于本月举行的特朗普与中国领导人习近平的会晤变得不确定。

The hawkish tone and Mao videos belie Beijing’s real priorities, which are to negotiate with Washington on tariffs, export controls and U.S. support of Taiwan.

强硬的语气和毛泽东视频背后，北京真正的优先事项是与华盛顿就关税、出口管制和美国对台湾的支持进行谈判。

“It’s called propaganda. It could be that they don’t want to keep fighting,” said Shen Dingli, a Shanghai-based international relations scholar, who said Beijing was using both its economic might and the idea that China will not give up as a way to pressure the U.S.

“这就是宣传。他们或许不想继续打下去了，”上海的国际关系学者沈丁立说，他表示，北京正在利用其经济实力和中国不会屈服的理念来向美国施压。

After years of propaganda accusing the United States of trying to suppress China, managing public morale can be a difficult balancing act.

在多年来宣传指责美国试图压制中国之后，管理公众情绪可能要掌握一种困难的平衡。

“It helps the government frame the moment as another stress test for China’s economic system and to rally domestic confidence amid real anxieties about growth,” said Lizzi C. Lee, a fellow focusing on the Chinese economy at the Asia Society Policy Institute. “The obvious risk, though, is that each round of domestic nationalist excitement narrows that room a bit more, making any compromise politically harder to sell at home.”

“这有助于政府将当前时刻描绘成中国经济体系的又一次压力测试，并在对增长的真正担忧中凝聚国内信心，”亚洲协会政策研究所专注于中国经济的研究员李其说。“不过，明显的风险是，每一轮国内民族主义情绪的高涨都会进一步缩小回旋余地，使得任何妥协在国内更难获得政治支持。”

Chinese officials sought to downplay their new measures on rare earths — which also restrict international shipments of products with trace amounts of rare earths from China — emphasizing that the controls are not export bans but a licensing system. On Tuesday, China’s Ministry of Commerce said there was still “vast room for cooperation” between the countries.

中国官员试图淡化他们对稀土的新措施——这些措施也限制了含有微量稀土的产品从中国出口，强调这些管制不是出口禁令，而是一种许可证制度。周二，中国商务部表示，两国之间仍有“广阔的合作空间”。

中国包头市的化工厂和稀土精炼厂毗邻一座湖泊，湖中堆积着矿石提取稀土后留下的废料。

“In reality, the United States does not need to overreact,” Zhou Mi, a researcher at the Ministry of Commerce Research Institute wrote in an editorial on Wednesday on a state-run website, describing the new rare earth regulations as merely a “legal move.”

“其实，美国大可不必过度反应，”商务部研究院研究员周密周三在一个官方网站的社论中写道，他将新的稀土规定仅仅描述为“依法行事”。

Chinese experts like Xu Hongcai, deputy director of the Economic Policy Committee of the China Association of Policy Science Research, also emphasized that there was space for compromise. “The controls will definitely be loosened. If you back down, then they’ll definitely be loosened,” he said of the United States.

中国政策科学研究会经济政策委员会副主任徐洪才等中国专家也强调，有妥协的空间。“管制肯定会放松。如果你让步，那肯定会放松，”他在谈到美国时说。

“Everything is negotiable,” he added.

“一切都是可以谈判的，”他还说。