China warned to prepare for lengthy trade war with US
- China should prepare for a years-long conflict with the United States, says government adviser
- Senior economist argues country cannot and should not accept Washington’s terms because America wants to contain its rival
Beijing should prepare for extended conflict with Washington, because their fundamental differences cannot be resolved in a brief meeting of top leaders, a government adviser has warned.
“We shouldn’t and can’t accept the US-imposed terms for a ‘ceasefire’. The trade war won’t end in two or three years and we should make long-term mental preparations,” Pei Changhong, former director of the Institute of Economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government think tank, said.
US President Donald Trump was using the trade war as a tool to blackmail China for economic concessions, but the fundamental US strategy was to contain China, he argued.
“Suppressing potential rivals is a political tradition in the US, no matter who is in office,” Pei, a member of China’s top political advisory body, wrote in an article posted online.
The warning, made just two days before Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump meet after the G20 summit in Argentina, comes amid expectations that the two leaders will reach an agreement to avoid an escalation of the trade conflict, at least temporarily.