UNITED NATIONS: China's top diplomat said on Friday (Sep 27) that tariffs and trade disputes could plunge the world into recession and Beijing was committed to resolving them in a "calm, rational and cooperative manner."
In blunt speech to the annual United Nations General Assembly, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said: "Erecting walls will not resolve global challenges, and blaming others for one's own problems does not work. The lessons of the Great Depression should not be forgotten."
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In a clear swipe at US President Donald Trump, who started a damaging trade war on China nearly 15 months ago, Wang added, without naming the US leader:
"Tariffs and provocation of trade disputes, which upset global industrial and supply chains, serve to undermine the multilateral trade regime and global economic and trade order.
"They may even plunge the world into recession."
In successive round of tit-for-tat tariffs between the United States and China have levied punitive duties on hundreds of billions of each other's goods, roiling financial markets and threatening global growth.
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A new round of high-level talks between the two sides is expected in Washington in the first half of October.
Wang's remarks, unusually pointed for a Chinese diplomat, coincided with word that the Trump administration is considering radical new financial pressure tactics on Beijing, including the possibility of delisting Chinese companies from US stock exchanges.
Sources told Reuters on Friday that the move would be part of a broader effort to limit US investments into Chinese companies, in part because of growing security concerns about their activities.
Wang also took aim at Trump's policy on North Korea, in which ground-breaking talks between Pyongyang and Washington have stalled, largely over the US refusal to ease punishing sanctions.
Wang said it was necessary for the United Nations to consider invoking the rollback terms of North Korea-related sanctions resolutions "in the light of new developments" on the Korean Peninsula "to bolster the political settlement of the Peninsula issue."
He said "the realistic and viable way forward" was to promote "parallel progress in denuclearisation and the establishment of a peace mechanism" to gradually build trust "through phased and synchronized actions."
Wang reiterated comments made earlier in the week, stresRead More – Source
