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China never backs down when faced with ‘unreasonable’ behaviour, Xi Jinping warns

Xi told Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez that the EU should help China resist ‘unilateral bullying’ after the Trump tariffs landed

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Xi Jinping and Pedro Sanchez pictured ahead of their meeting in Beijing on Friday. Photo: EPA-EFE

There are no winners in a tariff war and China is not afraid of oppression, Chinese President Xi Jinping told visiting Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday.

Xi was speaking during his first meeting with a foreign leader since the tit-for-tat tariff clashes between Beijing and Washington started.

In a direct appeal to the European Union, he said China and the bloc should shoulder their international responsibilities and “jointly resist unilateral bullying”.
The appeal was a veiled swipe at the unpredictable policies of Donald Trump that have caused instability in the global financial markets.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also called for a global effort to fight back, saying: “The international community cannot stand idly by. The US must not act recklessly. The wheels of history cannot be turned back.”

China’s retaliation was designed not only to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests, but also “protect the common interests of all nations, to prevent humanity from regressing to a lawless jungle where might makes right,” Wang said during a meeting with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Mariano Grossi.

Washington has imposed a 145 per cent tariff on Chinese imports this year, bringing the effective tariff rate to about 156 per cent. On Friday, Beijing announced that its levies on US goods had risen to 125 per cent.
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