DAVOS: A top Chinese official warned Tuesday that no country would emerge victorious from a trade war, in a speech to the Davos forum as Donald Trump returned to the White House.
Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang told the World Economic Forum that a “tug of war” was underway between supporters and opponents of economic globalization.
“Transformation not seen in a century is accelerating across the board with imminent tariff wars and trade wars,” Ding said.
“The global governance system is undergoing profound adjustments. Human society has once again come to a critical crossroads,” he added.
Trump, who began his second term on Monday, vowed during his election campaign to impose higher tariffs on China after launching a trade war with the country during his first stint at the White House.
“Protectionism leads nowhere, and there are no winners in a trade war,” Ding said, without mentioning Trump or the United States by name.
Trump warned Monday that he could impose tariffs if Beijing rejected his proposal to keep Chinese-owned app TikTok online in the United States by having half of it sold off.
China has also been locked in trade disputes with the European Union.
The EU imposed hefty tariffs on electric cars made in China last year. In turn, Beijing targeted European brandies and opened probes into EU subsidies of some dairy and pork products.
Without mentioning the EU or any country by name, Ding warned against “erecting green barriers that could disrupt normal economic and trade cooperation.”
He called for a “consistent approach” in addressing climate change and trade policies “so as to prevent economic and trade frictions from impeding the process of green transition.”
‘No winners in a trade war’: Chinese vice premier tells Davos
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‘No winners in a trade war’: Chinese vice premier tells Davos
- Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang told the World Economic Forum that a “tug of war” was underway between supporters and opponents of economic globalization
- The EU imposed hefty tariffs on electric cars made in China last year
Italian police fire tear gas as protesters clash near Winter Olympics hockey venue
- Police vans behind a temporary metal fence secured the road to the athletes’ village, but the protest veered away, continuing on a trajectory toward the Santagiulia venue
MILAN: Italian police fired tear gas and a water cannon at dozens of protesters who threw firecrackers and tried to access a highway near a Winter Olympics venue on Saturday.
The brief confrontation came at the end of a peaceful march by thousands against the environmental impact of the Games and the presence of US agents in Italy.
Police held off the violent demonstrators, who appeared to be trying to reach the Santagiulia Olympic ice hockey rink, after the skirmish. By then, the larger peaceful protest, including families with small children and students, had dispersed.
Earlier, a group of masked protesters had set off smoke bombs and firecrackers on a bridge overlooking a construction site about 800 meters (a half-mile) from the Olympic Village that’s housing around 1,500 athletes.
Police vans behind a temporary metal fence secured the road to the athletes’ village, but the protest veered away, continuing on a trajectory toward the Santagiulia venue. A heavy police presence guarded the entire route.
There was no indication that the protest and resulting road closure interfered with athletes’ transfers to their events, all on the outskirts of Milan.
The demonstration coincided with US Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Milan as head of the American delegation that attended the opening ceremony on Friday.
He and his family visited Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” closer to the city center, far from the protest, which also was against the deployment of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to provide security to the US delegation.
US Homeland Security Investigations, an ICE unit that focuses on cross-border crimes, frequently sends its officers to overseas events like the Olympics to assist with security. The ICE arm at the forefront of the immigration crackdown in the US is known as Enforcement and Removal Operations, and there is no indication its officers are being sent to Italy.
At the larger, peaceful demonstration, which police said numbered 10,000, people carried cardboard cutouts to represent trees felled to build the new bobsled run in Cortina. A group of dancers performed to beating drums. Music blasted from a truck leading the march, one a profanity-laced anti-ICE anthem.
“Let’s take back the cities and free the mountains,” read a banner by a group calling itself the Unsustainable Olympic Committee. Another group called the Association of Proletariat Excursionists organized the cutout trees.
“They bypassed the laws that usually are needed for major infrastructure project, citing urgency for the Games,” said protester Guido Maffioli, who expressed concern that the private entity organizing the Games would eventually pass on debt to Italian taxpayers.
Homemade signs read “Get out of the Games: Genocide States, Fascist Police and Polluting Sponsors,” the final one a reference to fossil fuel companies that are sponsors of the Games. One woman carried an artificial tree on her back decorated with the sign: “Infernal Olympics.”
The demonstration followed another last week when hundreds protested the deployment of ICE agents.
Like last week, demonstrators Saturday said they were opposed to ICE agents’ presence, despite official statements that a small number of agents from an investigative arm would be present in US diplomatic territory, and not operational on the streets.
