As trade dispute grows, China’s state media says Beijing should hit US so hard ‘it remembers the pain’
Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily says White House has ‘completely lost its sense of reality’
China’s state media has rallied against the United States, warning its trade protectionism actions would end in defeat and that the only option now was to hit the US hard enough so it would “remember the pain”.
“If the US says that it will pay any price, it must be firmly attacked,” Xinhua said on Saturday.
China warned on Friday it was ready with a “fierce counter strike” of fresh trade measures if Washington followed through on President Donald Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on an additional US$100 billion worth of Chinese goods.
On Wednesday, China imposed US$3 billion worth of tariffs on US fruits, nuts, wine and pork, just hours after the Trump administration proposed duties on 1,300 Chinese industrial, technology, transport and medical products.
The rising trade tension between the world’s two largest economies follows a US finding that China was engaging in unfair trade practices in connection with intellectual property protection. China rejects the charge.
China’s media, which is strictly controlled by the government, has come out in defence of the country, painting it as a victim of a too aggressive United States bent on taking illegitimate unilateral action.
“The White House has completely lost its sense of reality!” said the ruling Communist Party’s People’s Daily newspaper in a Friday commentary, alleging the US is acting unilaterally and engaging in trade protectionism.
Meanwhile, the nationalist Global Times said in an editorial published late on Thursday that the “Chinese are aware that the only option now is to hit the US hard enough so that it will remember the pain.”
