Beijing blames trade war on US fears over ‘unprecedented opponent’
Washington’s ‘hegemony-dominated mindset’ has led to a misunderstanding over China’s rise, Communist Party mouthpiece says
Beijing says the spiralling trade war with Washington is being driven by US fears over China challenging its global hegemony, and has rejected criticism that Chinese overconfidence is fanning the tensions.
The message was delivered in a commentary in Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily on Friday, indicating the top leadership’s thinking on the dispute as they gather at coastal resort Beidaihe for an annual closed-door meeting to discuss domestic and foreign policies, including the trade war.
Taking aim at “ambiguous opinions popular online” that Beijing should cave in to Washington to avoid any escalation in the trade war, the piece said countering any country that could threaten US dominance was part of Washington’s long-term strategy.
It gave the examples of the Soviet Union and Japan, saying the same strategy had been used against them, and that the US now saw China – with its rapid economic growth and increasing global influence – as an “unprecedented opponent”.
“No matter what China does, in the eyes of the United States, China’s development has already ‘damaged the supremacy of the US’,” the commentary said.
“To tackle such an ‘opponent’, the US must adopt two methods – the first is to use the opponent for motivation and to drum up mass political support for ‘making America great again’, and the second is to contain the opponent’s supremacy at every level.”
China and the US have been locked in a tit-for-tat trade war since early last month that has shown no sign of abating. Beijing unveiled its latest retaliatory tariffs on US$16 billion of American goods on Wednesday, matching Washington’s move to slap 25 per cent duties on the same value of Chinese imports.