China - Vice President JD Vance is facing heavy backlash in China after claiming the US borrows money from "Chinese peasants" during a recent interview.

Last Thursday, Vance sat down for an interview with Fox News, during which he defended the controversial tariffs President Donald Trump recently implemented by arguing that the globalist economy has forced the US to "borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture."

According to CNN, when asked about the comments during a press conference on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry responded, "It's both astonishing and lamentable to hear this vice president make such ignorant and disrespectful remarks."

Vance's comments have also been receiving heavy criticism on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, where a related hashtag went viral and garnered millions of views and responses.

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"Look, this is their true face – arrogant and rude as always," said one popular comment.

Many critics also pointed to Vance's humble beginnings growing up poor in Ohio, as detailed in his autobiography Hillbilly Elegy.

"This true 'peasant' who came out of rural America seems to have a lack of perspective," reporter Hu Xijin wrote in a post. "Many people are urging him to come and see China for himself."

Though his efforts have resulted in drops in the US market and others around the world, Trump has continued to stand firm, refusing to pause the tariffs.