China Vows “Fight To The End” Over Trump “Blackmail”

The New York Times reports:

Xi Jinping wants you to know that he will not be cowed. Confronted with the latest threat from President Trump of an additional 50 percent tariff on Chinese goods unless Beijing reverses its retaliatory levies on U.S. imports, China’s top leader has remained defiant. His Ministry of Commerce on Tuesday accused the United States of “blackmail” and declared that Beijing would “fight to the end.”

But behind the bravado is a more complicated set of realities for Mr. Xi that makes it politically and economically untenable to offer concessions to the country’s single largest trading partner and chief rival for global influence. With Mr. Trump also refusing to back down, a devastating trade war between the two largest economies may be inevitable — a showdown with painful consequences that will be felt across the world.

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China’s foreign ministry spokesperson vowed the country will “fight to the end” after President Trump threatened to impose more tariffs. https://t.co/SbtiIMDhxU pic.twitter.com/w1kpEGRgro

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