China Warns Trade War With US Could Escalate Into ‘Great Depression & World War’
Washington is considering sanctions against companies and officials linked to China’s alleged crackdown on the country’s minority Muslims.
Speaking to Reuters before heading to join Chinese President Xi Jinping’s delegation at this week’s G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Cui Tiankai said China was going to the Argentinean capital hoping for a deal to ease a damaging trade war with the United States.
Mentioning the two countries’ shared responsibility to cooperate in the interests of the global economy, Cui warned about dire consequences if US hawks try to drive a wedge between the world’s two largest economies.
He drew parallels to the tariff wars the industrial countries fought during the 1930s, resulting in a collapse of global trade and stoking tensions in the run-up to World War Two.
‘The lessons of history are still there. In the last century, we had two world wars, and in between them, the Great Depression. I don’t think anybody should really try to have a repetition of history’, he observed.
Cui Tiankai said China wanted to avoid a trade war and hoped to resolve the impasse caused by US President Donald Trump’s demands for large-scale concessions from Beijing to correct a towering trade deficit with China.
U.S.-China showdown expected at the G-20 meeting this weekend
After months of growing friction and escalating tariffs, President Trump will meet this weekend in Argentina with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a face-off that could prove pivotal not only for U.S. businesses and consumers, but also for the global economy and increasingly fragile international order.
The private dinner Saturday between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies is likely to overshadow the Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires, which begins Friday, and will focus on such matters as sustainable development and work in the digital age.