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.
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#China #Asia #US #Trump
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Starmer and Macron plan to accompany Zelensky to White House on Trump visit
Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron are considering accompanying Volodymyr Zelensky to Washington to salvage his relationship with Donald Trump.
The visit would be part of a three-pronged plan being worked out by Kyiv’s European allies after a dramatic spat in the Oval Office between the US and Ukrainian presidents led to Washington suspending military support for the war-torn nation.
“We are considering potentially having President Macron travel again to Washington, alongside President Zelensky and his British counterpart,” an Élysée Palace spokesman said.
“We’re currently engaged in tight negotiations which involve the French president, as well as the entire government.”
Mr Macron’s office later said there were no current plans for the trip, while No 10 also denied plans were under way.
It comes as Mike Waltz, the US president’s national security adviser, said the president would consider restoring aid to Ukraine if peace talks were arranged and “confidence-building measures on the table”.
#SirKeirStarmer #Macron #Zelensky #WhiteHouse
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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.
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#Canda
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[Philippines] Ex-president Rodrigo Duterte arrested over crimes against humanity
MANILA, Philippines – Former president Rodrigo Duterte was arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (NAIA 3) on Tuesday, March 11, over a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), becoming the first former Philippine head of state to be arrested through an order by an international tribunal.
Earlier, an informed ranking source told Rappler that Duterte is already in custody, which was also confirmed to Rappler by a separate security source. Malacañang later confirmed this.
Duterte faces a crimes against humanity case before the international court over his drug war that killed close to 30,000 people, according to tallies by human rights groups. Prior to his arrest, the former president was put on Red Notice alert by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), following the ICC’s issuance of a warrant.
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#Rappler #News
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This is Yuki. He was rescued from being euthanized after her owner dropped him off at a shelter for getting too big.
DNA results show that he is 87.5% Gray Wolf, 8.6% Siberian husky, and 3.9% German shepherd
#Interesting #Animal
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