US-China Relations - 78. page

China Daily carried an opinion article that Huanqiu originally published which was titled, “In the Trade War, China must Destroy U.S. Arrogance.” The article commented that Trump’s announcement of tariffs against China was meant to “threaten other countries so as to demonstrate that the U.S. is No. 1 in the world and to induce the faster developing countries, such as China, to give in to the U.S. in economic resources and opportunities in order for the U.S. to realize the prominent powerful status it wants to achieve.” The article stated that the Trump administration is the one that “most favors applying extreme pressure everywhere and forcing the world, including China, to accept its behavior.” The article further stated that “China should teach Trump a lesson. Once he is defeated in the US-China trade war, it will become a political lesson for the U.S. which will make the U.S. give up the idea of engaging in a trade war idea in the future. … China has a huge market. While China battles trade wars with the U.S., China should also gain support from the European countries in order to isolate the U.S. rather than let the U.S. isolate China. We should set up our ultimate goal which is that we must destroy U.S. arrogance over its aggressive trade policy against China and make sure Washington is clear when it plans to exercise tough measures against China in other areas.”

Source: China Daily, March 24, 2018
http://china.chinadaily.com.cn/2018-03/24/content_35909583.htm

China’s Global Times published an editorial commenting on the recent developments in North Korea’s nuclear issue. The editorial stated, “The North Korean nuclear crisis has pushed North Korea into the spotlight of global public opinion. The information that South Korea, Japan, and Western media organizations have produced have basically dominated the world public opinion field. For China and the DPRK, how to distinguish and grasp the differences between the conflict on both sides of the nuclear issue and the Sino-DPRK friendship relations, and how to avoid the influence of South Korea, Japan, and Western public opinion in this regard is a major test that both countries should regard highly.”

The article warned that Chinese society must be clear-headed, stay calm, and must not be manipulated by the (hostile) forces that have ulterior motives.

It continued, “The Global Times has always firmly supported the Chinese government’s proposal to denuclearize the peninsula and oppose wartime conflicts on the peninsula. At the same time, it firmly believes that it is necessary to maintain the Sino-DPRK friendship relations and minimize the impact of the nuclear conflict issues on this relationship.”

“There are serious differences on the nuclear issue. This is the reality of the China-DPRK relationship, but it should not become the whole of the relationship between the two countries at any time, and it should not cut off the long-term strategic track of China-DPRK relations.”

Source: Global Times, March 18, 2018
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/editorial/2018-03/11674091.html

According to Duowei News, U.S. President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will hold a historic meeting, which has put China in an awkward position as it is sandwiched by enemies on both sides. It is said that China may have committed a major mistake.

Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University of China, told the Russian Satellite Network that under Donald Trump’s persuasion, pressure, and deception, China imposed six to seven rounds of sanctions on North Korea last year. China almost exhausted all of its measures of sanction against the DPRK. One of the most important consequences of these measures is that Pyongyang’s resentment toward China is growing.

Shi also said, “The dramatic changes on the Korean Peninsula have in fact knocked China out of the picture. Although the possibility of a military conflict on the Korean Peninsula has been greatly reduced, still, China has in fact been excluded from the current affairs related to the nuclear crisis. Due to North Korea’s resentment towards China, such a situation is unlikely to change in the near future.” “Kim Jong-un has been working hard to improve relations with South Korea and the United States. Given this situation, he no longer needs to rely on China. This has become a major problem for China’s diplomacy.“ “I dare not say that by joining the sanctions camp, our government has made a major mistake. However, China’s actions have not been rewarded. This is a fact.”

Duowei also quoted The British Guardian’s report on March 9 that Zhao Tong, a researcher at the Carnegie Center for Global Policy at Tsinghua University, said, “In the short term, I think Beijing will be happy and will welcome this development very much.” However, Zhao Tong also said that China may feel nervous about the potential results of the meeting.

Source: Duowei, March 16, 2018
http://news.dwnews.com/global/news/2018-03-16/60046367.html

Voice of America (VOA) Chinese recently reported that, according to the U.S. Customs and the U.S. Border Protection Agency (BPA), the number of import seizures increased from 31,560 in 2016 to 34,134 in 2017. Most of the counterfeits were jewelry; the second largest number consisted of bags and wallets, followed by consumer electronics. Including all imported counterfeit items, the Chinese Mainland had a share of 46 percent, followed by Hong Kong’s 32 percent. Of all those supplying counterfeit goods to the United States, Mainland China remains the largest. In 2017, the U.S. imported goods that violated intellectual property rights increased by eight percent overall. The U.S. authorities arrested 475 people last year and filed 288 legal cases.

Source: VOA Chinese, March 9, 2018
https://www.voachinese.com/a/voanews-20180309-intellectual-property-rights-seizure-stats/4287708.html

China Review News, China’s state-sponsored media in Hong Kong, published an article stating that Trump clearly explained the Trump administration’s position on China in the economic field in his State of the Union address and in the U.S. National Security Strategy adopted in December 2017. He said that the U.S. strategy on China has changed from cooperation to containment.

The article compared Trump’s speech to former U.S. presidents’ remarks and previously issued U.S. documents pertaining to U.S. China policies. The article said, “The national security strategy that President Barack Obama approved in 2015 highly praised ‘unprecedented cooperation’ with China and called China a ‘strategic partner.’” (However), “the new U.S. national security strategy has, for the first time, listed economic cooperation and development issues as the core issue of ensuring national security. It characterizes the economic relations with China as one of the U.S.’s major security threats as well as a current challenge of ‘the global order that the Western powers established after the Second World War.’”

The article concluded, “U.S. policy toward China has turned a corner: Washington has shifted from a policy of trying to change China’s political system via cooperation to a ‘containment’ policy. The impending ‘trade war’ is only the first stage of a war of ideals. (We) hope Beijing can have enough wisdom (to deal with it).”

The article has been republished in many popular online based Chinese news media including People’s Daily (overseas edition), Sina, and others.

Sources:
1. China Review News (CRN), March 6, 2018
http://hk.crntt.com/doc/1049/9/7/0/104997076.html?coluid=58&kindid=1213&docid=104997076
2. Sina, March 7, 2018
http://news.sina.com.cn/w/sy/2018-03-07/doc-ifxpwyhv5351463.shtml