China vows to ‘fight till the end’ as Trump escalates trade war
China has vowed to “fight till the end” after US President Donald Trump escalated his trade war by doubling tariffs on all Chinese imports to 20%.
Beijing hit back at Trump’s levies by imposing retaliatory tariffs of up to 15% on selected American goods, expanding export controls to a dozen US firms and filing a lawsuit at the World Trade Organization. It also sent a stern warning to the Trump administration: Chinese people will never bow to “hegemony or bullying.”
“Pressure, coercion and threats are not the right ways to engage with China. Trying to exert maximum pressure on China is a miscalculation and a mistake,” Lin Jian, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, told a regular news briefing Tuesday afternoon. “If the US insists on waging a tariff war, trade war, or any other kind of war, China will fight till the end.”
The barrage of retaliatory measures and fiery exchanges came as Chinese leader Xi Jinping is preparing to hold a major political gathering designed to project confidence in his country’s ability to stay the course and weather external headwinds.
As thousands of delegates convene in the Chinese capital for the country’s “two sessions” annual meeting, Xi and his officials are set to use the highly choreographed spectacle to broadcast China as a major power steadily advancing its tech prowess and global rise.
That escalating rivalry between the two powers will be in the spotlight on Wednesday morning in Beijing, when Trump’s first address to Congress will roughly coincide with a state-of-the-union-like speech delivered by China’s No. 2 official Li Qiang at the opening meeting of the National’s People Congress (NPC), which rubber-stamps decisions already made behind closed doors.
There, Li is expected to announce China’s yearly targets for economic growth and military spending — and lay out how Beijing plans to continue its economic growth and transformation into a technological powerhouse in the face of mounting pressure from the United States.
Despite the challenges, analysts aren’t bracing for any major policy surprises or U-turns from the roughly weeklong meetings of both the NPC and the country’s top advisory body. True decision-making power lies with the Chinese Communist Party, whose authority cannot be challenged in the country – and Xi, the party’s most powerful leader in decades.
The increased tariffs — and the threat of more economic and tech controls to come — are casting a long shadow over China’s two sessions, which observers will also be watching for signs on how Beijing will continue to address its rumbling economic difficulties at home.
And signs point to Beijing staying the course on its leader’s strategies to bolster innovation, industry and self-sufficiency to steel itself against frictions ahead: all while projecting that, in China, it’s business as usual.
We must “face difficulties head-on and strengthen confidence” amid growing external challenges, the Communist Party journal Qiushi quoted Xi as saying in an article released Friday that’s meant to set the tone for the gathering.
#CNN
#China #Asia #US #Trump
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Canada is caught in a ‘double trade war’ — and one premier is urging Ottawa to drop its fight against China
OTTAWA — On top of threatened U.S. tariffs, China has brought down another hammer on many Canadian farm and seafood exports, hitting them with a “double trade war” that industry leaders say will slam Canadian producers.
In response, B.C. Premier David Eby called on Ottawa to drop its tariff fight against China, saying Canada got nothing out of trying to align trade policy with the United States last fall ahead of President Donald Trump’s election.
Eby, who stepped up measures against the United States along with Ontario Premier Doug Ford on Monday, said the government of Canada should offer a concession in the trade dispute it has with China.
#TheStar #News
#Canda
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China to raise defense spending by 7.2% in 2025 to ‘firmly safeguard’ national security
China on Wednesday increased its defense spending by 7.2% this year, the same growth rate as in the prior two years, as Beijing seeks to “firmly safeguard” its national security.
In an official government report due to be released in parliament, China proposed a national defense budget of 1.78 trillion yuan ($244.99 billion) for the 2025 fiscal year.
The increased defense budget, well above China’s economic growth target for this year of roughly 5%, comes as Western governments seek to ratchet up military spending to bolster their own security.
The European Union announced Tuesday that it could mobilize as much as 800 billion euros ($841 billion) to shore up support for Ukraine amid Russia’s full-scale invasion. The move followed reports that the U.S. had abruptly paused military aid to Ukraine.
China budgeted a 7.2% increase in defense spending to 1.67 trillion yuan last year, the same growth rate as in the prior year. Beijing had increased spending by 7.1% in 2022 and 6.8% in 2021, according to official data.
When asked on Tuesday about China’s defense spending, Lou Qinjian, spokesperson for the third session of the 14th National People’s Congress, told reporters that “peace needs to be safeguarded with strength.”
That’s according to an official translation of his Mandarin-language remarks.
China’s defense expenditure as share of GDP has been held under 1.5% for many years, Lou said, adding that this rate of spending is lower than the global average.
China remains the world’s second largest military spender behind the U.S. which has set the military budget for 2025 at $850 billion.
Separately, expenditures earmarked for public security this year was raised by 7.3%, the official statement showed, a sharp increase compared with the 1.4% rise last year.
#China #Asia #CNBC #News
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Two US Navy Aircraft Down in 30 Minutes: South China Sea Incidents Raise Safety Questions
In a rare double incident, a US Navy helicopter and fighter jet crashed into the South China Sea within half an hour of each other on Sunday, October 26, 2025. Both aircraft were operating from the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier during routine operations.
What Happened:
At 2:45 PM local time, an MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter from Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 73 went down first. Just 30 minutes later at 3:15 PM, an F/A-18F Super Hornet from Strike Fighter Squadron 22 also crashed into the waters.
The good news? All five crew members survived. The three helicopter crew members were rescued from the water, while both fighter jet pilots successfully ejected before impact and were recovered by search-and-rescue teams.
Context That Matters:
The USS Nimitz is currently on its final deployment before decommissioning in May 2026. At 49 years old, it's the Navy's oldest active aircraft carrier, now serving its 23rd deployment in the Indo-Pacific region.
These crashes add to a concerning pattern of US Navy aviation incidents. The USS Harry S. Truman experienced a friendly fire incident in December when the USS Gettysburg mistakenly shot down one of its F/A-18s, and another Super Hornet fell overboard in April during evasive maneuvers against Houthi missile attacks.
The cause of both Sunday crashes remains under investigation by the US Pacific Fleet.
The incidents occurred in the strategically contested South China Sea, where US forces regularly conduct freedom of navigation operations amid ongoing territorial disputes with China.
#News #US #Navy #Aircraft #Down #South #China
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China strikes back at Trump tariffs with 15% levies targeting US farmers
WASHINGTON (AP) — China retaliated against President Donald Trump’s tariffs with an additional 15% tax on key American farm products, including chicken, pork, soybeans and beef.
The escalating trade tensions punished U.S. markets Monday as investors fearful of the damage from from Trump’s trade wars put their money elsewhere.
The Chinese tariffs, announced last week, were a response to Trump’s decision to double the levy on Chinese imports to 20% on March 4. China’s Commerce Ministry had earlier said that goods already in transit would be exempt from the retaliatory tariffs until April 12.
Imposing tariffs on imports is a key part of Trump’s agenda. He believes the import taxes can raise money for the Treasury, protect American industries and pressure foreign countries to do what he wants in a range of issues, including immigration and drug trafficking.
#China #USA #AP #News
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U.S. Army soldiers accused of selling military secrets, including to China
Active-duty soldier Li Tian and former soldier Ruoyu Duan were charged in Oregon with conspiring to commit bribery and the theft of government property. Active-duty soldier Jian Zhao was charged in Washington state for conspiring to obtain and transmit national defense information to an individual not authorized to receive it, and for bribery and theft of government property.
#News #US #Army #CBSNews
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China develops “plastic” from bamboo cellulose that can replicate or surpass the properties of many widely used plastics
“Bamboo’s rapid growth makes it a highly renewable resource, providing a sustainable alternative to traditional timber sources, but its current applications are still largely limited to more traditional woven products,” says Zhao.
Zhao and his team first treated the bamboo by adding zinc chloride and a simple acid, which breaks down the strong chemical bonds and produces a soup of smaller cellulose molecules. They then added ethanol, which makes the cellulose molecules rearrange into a strong, solidified plastic.
The plastic’s toughness is comparable to commonly used engineering plastics – strong plastics used in vehicles, appliances and construction, says Andrew Dove at the University of Birmingham, UK, who wasn’t involved in the study. #Innovation
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