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China said on Thursday that trade issues with the United States can only be resolved through talks as equals, and it will press on with the steady opening of its economy regardless of U.S. actions.
"The only correct choice in resolving trade friction between China and the U.S. is through talks based on sincerity and equality," Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng told reporters at a regular briefing.
"Whatever repressive measures the U.S. adopts, China will firmly and steadily push forward reform and opening at its own pace."
Some Chinese firms and foreign companies in China have been affected by the U.S. tariffs and are working to mitigate the impact, Gao said, without elaborating.
Former Republican presidential candidate and current Senator hopeful Mitt Romney once described U.S. President Donald Trump as a “con artist”. Slander and defamation aside, the former governor might have been right. Trump has spent his life trying to sell more than he can deliver, from his Atlantic City casinos that went bankrupt, to his university that went bust.Yet failure never deterred Trump, perhaps because “once a salesman, always a salesman”. Without experience in any kind of government office, and without experience in any job other than owning, and bankrupting, his own companies, Trump ran for presidential election on his “business success”, and promised to deliver similar results for the country.Before the White House, Trump dismissed strong job reports, from the Labor Department, and called them “doctored”. After becoming president, Trump started hailing the same reports as an indicator of his success. The same double-standard applied to almost every aspect of governance under the U.S. president: When things succeed, he claims credit for them even if they were the result of the work of his predecessors. When things fail, he blames his predecessors for his own mistakes and shortcomings.Trump warns evangelical leaders privately of ‘violence’ if Republicans lose midtermsFact checkers have repeatedly described Trump as the president who has uttered the biggest number of lies. Yet this never deterred Trump from persisting with even more lies. More importantly, Trump’s falsehoods do not seem to have deterred his followers either, little in number as they may be. To date, despite all his proven lies, some with legal ramifications, Trump still enjoys the unwavering support of a core of Republicans, estimated to be one-third of the party’s voters.Given the steady support from his fans, Trump has come to think that his salesmanship is the secret ingredient that has brought him this far, and that can protect him, going forward, against possible entanglements with the law.Nothing new, China says about Trump accusation of Clinton email hackTrump’s populist tactic means that, in facing any accusations against him and possible indictments, he depends on two things: His diehard supporters, and his vast prerogatives as a president, prerogatives that he has used so far to fire half a dozen senior law enforcement officials who had refused to shutdown investigations into his possible collusion with foreign governments, such as Russia.Together with his impulsive statements and undisciplined tweets, Trump’s chaotic management at the White House has meant that he has not organized any effective legal defense, should investigations reach his doorstep. Instead of trying to counter Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating into possible Russian interference in America’s 2016 election, Trump has gone after Mueller, and has tried to discredit the special counsel and his integrity.Trump accuses Google of rigging search resultsWhat Trump has missed is that Lady Justice covers her eyes, while holding the scales, for a reason. Justice was designed to proceed regardless of popular opinion, and even though the president is technically the chief law enforcer, his power has limitations, mainly due to America’s decentralized system.So far, Mueller has outsmarted Trump on many fronts. First, unlike the chatty Trump, Mueller has remained silent, and has run a tight ship of investigations without leaks. Second, Mueller realizes that Trump has authority to pardon the indicted and dismiss prosecutors, but Trump’s power is over federal law-enforcement only, and does not cover state law-enforcement. Henceforth, the special counsel has collected enough convicting evidence and handed them over to local state prosecutors.Trump envoy urges Iraqi officials to quickly form gov’tSo far, the cases of Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen, his confidant and publisher of the National Enquirer David Pecker, and his Chief Financial Officer at the Trump Organization Allen Weisselberg, have been litigated at the local state level. This means that even if Trump were to dismiss Mueller, these cases will not be interrupted.The only case remaining in federal hands is that of Trump’s former presidential Campaign Manager Paul Manafort, who was indicted in a case of tax fraud, on eight out of 18 counts. Manafort awaits a second trial pertaining to his connections with the government of Ukraine. While Trump thinks that he can pardon Manafort and end his trials, most law experts believe that a presidential pardon cannot stop state prosecutors from picking up where Mueller was interrupted.Trump blames China for hacking of Clinton emails, offers no evidenceAmong the four big Trump associates who have been flipped, indicted or have entered a plea deal, only Manafort stands out as the one who was not close to Trump before the 2016 presidential campaign. This might have convinced Mueller that while other associates of Trump were guilty, in some form or another, Manafort deserves special attention for being an outsider, someone who was introduced to the Trump team by a foreign government. Based on speculation only, it seems that Mueller believes that Manafort holds the keys to the alleged Trump collision with Moscow.Trump has already tried to preempt any findings. He has said that “there was no collusion with Russia, and even if there were, nothing in the law prohibits it,” a disputed interoperation of the law. If collusion is ever unveiled, the U.S. president will face a host of criminal accusations, including under laws such as the Espionage Act.Trump has also been the first to utter the word impeachment. In an interview with Fox News, Trump threatened that if he were impeached, the stock market would collapse and every American would become poor. While it remains hard to substantiate Trump’s economic argument, the U.S. president might have chosen to mention impeachment as yet another way to rally his supporters against the investigation.Trump might eventually fire Mueller, in addition to the top brass at the Justice Department, in order to derail the investigation. But so far, it seems that such tactics have done little to stop justice. If the U.S. president is to stand a chance in proving his innocence, he will need to play the legal game according to the known rules: Hire a team of top lawyers and ask them to counter the formidable Mueller team. Anything else does not seem to be working in Trump’s favor, and may threaten his stay in the White House. Twitter may prove inadequate for saving Trump out of his legal trouble.
Can Trump tweet his way out?
"We are confident that foreign trade will maintain steady momentum... and will roll out targeted policies to safeguard the legitimate rights of all firms in China, including foreign-invested firms," said Gao.
China's manufacturing sector is under pressure from higher borrowing costs, cooling investment and consumer spending, and a potential shock to exports as a result of the trade frictions with the United States.
A Reuters poll showed on Thursday that activity in the vast factory sector likely slowed for a third straight month in August, as domestic demand remained weak and exporters faced rising uncertainties from the brewing U.S.-China trade war.
China on Wednesday denied that it planned to build a military base in Afghanistan, after a Hong Kong newspaper said Beijing was constructing a training camp for Afghan troops to which it could also send its own soldiers.The South China Morning Post, citing unidentified sources with ties to the Chinese military, said China was building the camp in the narrow Wakhan Corridor that links the two countries.Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying dismissed the report, however."After looking into it, the relevant report is not true," she told a daily news briefing.Scrapping China's two-child policy boosts hope to end bride trafficking"Since the construction and training, this situation, it doesn't exist - it's not true. So anything related naturally is not true," Hua added, dismissing the assertion about China eventually sending its own soldiers.She did not elaborate. The Defence Ministry did not respond to a request from Reuters for comment.It was not the first time reports have pointed to China seeking a military presence in Afghanistan, although it has denied all of them.To counter China, West plans bigger footprint in PacificIn January, the defence ministry denied a similar report that it planned to build a military base in Afghanistan.It has also previously dismissed reports that Chinese military vehicles were patrolling in the south Asian nation.China has long worried that instability in Afghanistan could spill over into its violence-prone Xinjiang region, home to the Muslim Uighur people.In recent years, hundreds of people have been killed in the far western region in unrest China blames on militants.Nothing new, China says about Trump accusation of Clinton email hackChina has also worked with Pakistan and the United States to broker peace talks to end Afghanistan's Taliban insurgency that has raged since the militants were ousted by U.S.-backed forces in 2001.Last year, China opened its first overseas military base, in the Horn of Africa country Djibouti. It has previously denied having plans for other overseas bases, but the United States expects it to build more, with Pakistan a likely location.
China denies planning military base in Afghanistan
The head of China's top planning agency also warned that the economy faces increasing risks in the second half of the year and policymakers need to step up efforts to meet key development goals.
In the meantime, U.S. economic growth was a bit stronger than initially thought in the second quarter, notching its best performance in nearly four years.
However, U.S. goods trade deficit widened sharply in July as exports of agricultural products tumbled, indicating trade could be a drag on growth in the third quarter.