China on Friday denounced "blackmail" by U. S. President Donald Trump over trade but insisted it had no plan to challenge U. S. pre-eminence as relations between the world’s two largest economies deteriorate. Days after Trump slapped $200 billion in tariffs and vowed to press on
China on Friday denounced « blackmail » by U. S. President Donald Trump over trade but insisted it had no plan to challenge U. S. pre-eminence as relations between the world’s two largest economies deteriorate.
Days after Trump slapped $200 billion in tariffs and vowed to press on until China buckles, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the U. N. General Assembly that Beijing would resist.
« China will not be blackmailed or yield to pressure, » Wang told the U. N. General Assembly in a speech that did not mention the United States but appeared to be a pushback against Trump’s repudiation from the same podium on Tuesday of globalism.
« China will keep to its commitments and remain a champion of multilaterlism, » he said.
« We must pursue win-win cooperation…. We need to replace confrontation with cooperation and coercion with consultation. We must stick together as a big family as opposed to forming closed circles. »
Trump forged initial bonhomie with Chinese President Xi Jinping after the real estate tycoon’s unexpected election victory but relations have plummeted, largely over trade.
With characteristic bluntness, Trump this week said he may no longer consider Xi a friend and accused China of interfering in midterm U. S. elections to punish him for his tough trade stance.
Wang, addressing opinion leaders at the Council on Foreign Relations thinktank shortly before addressing the General Assembly, played down the spurt in tensions as natural between two major countries.
« Various frictions may ensue and this is not surprising, and it is also no cause for panic, » Wang said.
« Some American friends have proceeded from the Western theory of realism, » he said, believing that « in the past several hundred years, strong countries are bound to seek hegemony, and their conclusion is that China is about to seek hegemony and even challenge or displace U.
