China on Tuesday dismissed as unscientific and unprofessional US President Donald Trump’s charge that Beijing has ripped off America with unfair business practices for decades.
The US and China are locked in a bruising trade war since Trump imposed heavy tariffs on imported steel and aluminium items from China in March last year, a move that sparked fears of a global trade war. In response, China imposed tit-for-tat tariffs on billions of dollars worth of American imports.
Trump once again accused China of ripping off United States at a rally in Montoursville, Pennsylvania on Monday, attacking his potential re-election challenger Joe Biden for minimising the economic threat posed by Beijing.
“They want Biden so that China can continue to make $500 billion dollars a year and more ripping off the United States,” he said.
“Past leaders let China freely plunder the US economy and take the crown jewels of American industry,” Trump said.
Reacting to Trump’s charge, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told media here that any trade deal should be balanced and mutually beneficial.
“It is necessary to distinguish between reciprocity and which side gains advantage. In trade relations, they are not the same thing. It is unrealistic to ask for absolute equal openness and not to mention that economic globalisation is a process that countries complement each other’s advantages,” he said.
