Last month, US President Donald Trump had imposed $200 billion tariff on Chinese imports. While China retaliated by imposing tariffs on about $60 billion of US imports
In a significant development, China on Wednesday reached out to India to fight protectionism in the wake of trade war with United States.
Last month, US President Donald Trump had imposed $200 billion tariff on Chinese imports. While China retaliated by imposing tariffs on about $60 billion of US imports, experts here believe that this was expected to hurt Beijing growth and erode President Xi Jinping's credibility that he draws from continued good economic performance.
The US has threatened to impose additional tariffs of over $260 billion on imports if China retaliates again.
In a statement, Chinese embassy here asked for "deepening cooperation to fight trade protectionism". Counsellor Ji Rong, spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in India, warned that the US moves of practising unilateral trade protectionism in the name of "national security" and "fair trade" will not only hit China's economic development, but also undermine the external environment for India and impact its booming economy too.
It is also significant that the statement has come just two days after the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo concluded his visit to Beijing, where he held discussions with Jang Jiechi, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Wang Yi, the Foreign Minister.
"As the two largest developing countries and major emerging markets, China and India are both in the vital stage of deepening reform and developing economy, and both need stable external environment," said Counselor Ji.
He said China and India share common interests in defending the multilateral trading system and free trade and referred to comments by President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to safeguard the multilateral trading system and free trade at the World Economic Forum in Davos. "Facing unilateralism and bullying activities, China and India have more reasons to join efforts to build a more just and reasonable international order," Ji said.
The Chinese Embassy spokesperson also said the US should reflect on its own practice of interfering in the internal affairs of developing countries such as China and India under the pretext of human rights and religious matters.
"The so-called militarisation of South China Sea by China is distorting of facts. The US should stop making troubles and creating tensions, and respect the efforts of relevant parties to resolve problems through negotiation and consultation," Ji said. Referring to the Indo-Pacific region, the spokesperson said China was firmly against attempts to use the so-called Indo-Pacific strategy as a tool to counter China. At the same time, Ji said, Beijing was open to all initiatives that will help regional development and cooperation. "The allegation that China has put some developing countries into 'debt trap' is nothing but an attempt to sow discord," Ji said. He said China's economic cooperation with other developing countries is to ensure win-win situation and common development.
"China is open to all initiatives that will help regional development and cooperation. What we are firmly against is attempts to use the so-called Indo-Pacific strategy as a tool to counter China." He said China was looking forward to the US taking concrete steps to become a trusted partner of the developing countries. The embassy statement also lashed out at US Vice-President Mike Pence's allegations that China was influencing the US public opinion to influence 2020 presidential elections. Describing them as "groundless accusations", the statement asked the US to view and understand China's development in a right way.
Dr Abanti Bhattacharya, Associate Professor at the Department of East Asian Studies in Delhi University, believes that despite China's $11 trillion-strong economy, the country was not all that strong. "Geopolitically, President Trump's outreach to North Korea and advocacy of an Indo-Pacific strategy are eroding China's geopolitical manoeuvrability. Economically, the ongoing trade war between the US and China is expected to hurt China's growth, and that could very well mean the erosion of the Communist Party's credibility given that it draws its legitimacy from continued good economic performance," she said.
Anand Kumar, Associate Fellow at premier think-tank Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), also maintained that restrictive trade policy would hit the Chinese ambition of becoming the largest economy of the world at the earliest possible time. Therefore, China is looking at Africa, where it has grown its trade to $170 billion in 2017. It has grown 1.7 per cent in five months of 2018.
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In a statement, Chinese embassy here asked for "deepening cooperation to fight trade protectionism". Counsellor Ji Rong, spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in India, warned that the US moves of practising unilateral trade protectionism in the name of "national security" and "fair trade" will not only hit China's economic development, but also undermine the external environment for India and impact its booming economy too.
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