BEIJING: China will pay no attention if the United States continues to play the “tariff numbers game,” China’s foreign ministry said on Thursday, after the White House outline how China faces tariffs of up to 245 percent due to its retaliatory actions.
In a fact sheet released on Tuesday, the White House said China’s total duties include the latest reciprocal tariff of 125 percent, a 20 percent tariff to address the fentanyl crisis, and tariffs of between 7.5 percent and 100 percent on specific goods to address unfair trade practices.
US President Donald Trump announced additional tariffs on all countries two weeks ago, before suddenly rolling back higher “reciprocal tariffs” for dozens of countries while keeping punishing duties on China.
Beijing raised its own levies on US goods in response and has not sought talks, which it says can only be conducted on the basis of mutual respect and equality. Meanwhile, many other nations have begun looking at bilateral deals with Washington.
Last week, China also filed a new complaint with the World Trade Organization expressing “grave concern” over US tariffs, accusing Washington of violating the global trade body’s rules.
China this week unexpectedly appointed a new trade negotiator who would be key in any talks to resolve the escalating tariff war, replacing trade tsar Wang Shouwen with Li Chenggang, its envoy to the WTO.
Washington said Trump was open to making a trade deal with China but Beijing should make the first move, insisting that China needed “our money.”
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China says it will ignore US threats to raise tariffs up to 245%
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China says it will ignore US threats to raise tariffs up to 245%
- Washington said Trump was open to making a trade deal with China but Beijing should make the first move, insisting that China needed “our money”
US, Japan hold joint air exercise after China-Russia patrols
TOKYO: Japan said Thursday it held a joint air exercise with the United States in a show of force, days after Chinese-Russian patrols in the region and following weeks of diplomatic feuding between Tokyo and Beijing.
The Japanese joint chiefs of staff said Wednesday’s exercise with the US Air Force was conducted in “an increasingly severe security environment surrounding our country.”
Tokyo said Wednesday that two Russian Tu-95 nuclear-capable bombers flew a day earlier from the Sea of Japan to rendezvous with two Chinese H-6 bombers in the East China Sea, then conducted a joint flight around the country.
Japan said that it scrambled fighter jets in response.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi angered Beijing last month by suggesting that Japan would intervene with military force in any Chinese attack on Taiwan.
Thursday’s announcement by Japan’s chiefs of staff said: “We confirmed the strong resolve of Japan and the United States not to allow any unilateral change of the status quo by force, as well as the readiness of the Self-Defense Forces and the US military.”
In a separate statement it said that the “tactical exercises” over the Japan Sea involved two US B52 bombers, three Japanese F-35 fighter jets and three Japanese F-15s.
The joint exercise came as the United States criticized Beijing for the first time on Wednesday after Chinese military aircraft locked radar onto Japanese jets on Saturday.
The J-15 jets from China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier twice locked radar on Japanese aircraft in international waters near Okinawa, according to Japan, which scrambled jets in response.
“China’s actions are not conducive to regional peace and stability,” a US State Department spokesperson told AFP on Wednesday.
“The US-Japan Alliance is stronger and more united than ever. Our commitment to our ally Japan is unwavering, and we are in close contact on this and other issues.”
Fighter jets use their radar for fire control to identify targets as well as for search and rescue operations.
Tokyo also summoned Beijing’s ambassador following the radar incident, over which the two countries offer differing accounts of events.
Japan said it scrambled its F-15 jets because it was worried about possible “airspace violations.”
Guo Jiakun, spokesman for the ministry of foreign affairs, accused Japan Wednesday of sending the jets “to intrude into the Chinese training area without authorization, conduct close-range reconnaissance and harassment, create tense situations, and continue to maliciously hype up the situation.”
Takaichi’s comments about intervening in any Taiwan emergency enraged Beijing as China claims the self-ruled island as its own and has not ruled out seizing it by force.
Tokyo was forced to deny a Wall Street Journal report that said US President Donald Trump had advised Takaichi not to provoke China over Taiwan’s sovereignty.
But Tokyo is apparently frustrated at the lack of public support from top officials in Washington and has urged the US to be more vocal, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.
- ‘Regrettable’ -
NATO chief Mark Rutte said on Wednesday that the radar incident and the joint Chinese-Russian patrols were “regrettable,” Japan’s Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said on X.
The statement followed a 15-minute video conference between Rutte and Koizumi, the defense ministry said in a statement.
Rutte “affirmed that security in the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic regions is completely inseparable,” Koizumi said.
South Korea said Tuesday that Russian and Chinese warplanes also entered its air defense zone, with Seoul also deploying fighter jets that same day.
Beijing confirmed later on Tuesday that it had organized drills with Russia’s military according to “annual cooperation plans.”
Moscow also described it as a routine exercise, saying it lasted eight hours and that some foreign fighter jets followed the Russian and Chinese aircraft.
The Japanese joint chiefs of staff said Wednesday’s exercise with the US Air Force was conducted in “an increasingly severe security environment surrounding our country.”
Tokyo said Wednesday that two Russian Tu-95 nuclear-capable bombers flew a day earlier from the Sea of Japan to rendezvous with two Chinese H-6 bombers in the East China Sea, then conducted a joint flight around the country.
Japan said that it scrambled fighter jets in response.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi angered Beijing last month by suggesting that Japan would intervene with military force in any Chinese attack on Taiwan.
Thursday’s announcement by Japan’s chiefs of staff said: “We confirmed the strong resolve of Japan and the United States not to allow any unilateral change of the status quo by force, as well as the readiness of the Self-Defense Forces and the US military.”
In a separate statement it said that the “tactical exercises” over the Japan Sea involved two US B52 bombers, three Japanese F-35 fighter jets and three Japanese F-15s.
The joint exercise came as the United States criticized Beijing for the first time on Wednesday after Chinese military aircraft locked radar onto Japanese jets on Saturday.
The J-15 jets from China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier twice locked radar on Japanese aircraft in international waters near Okinawa, according to Japan, which scrambled jets in response.
“China’s actions are not conducive to regional peace and stability,” a US State Department spokesperson told AFP on Wednesday.
“The US-Japan Alliance is stronger and more united than ever. Our commitment to our ally Japan is unwavering, and we are in close contact on this and other issues.”
Fighter jets use their radar for fire control to identify targets as well as for search and rescue operations.
Tokyo also summoned Beijing’s ambassador following the radar incident, over which the two countries offer differing accounts of events.
Japan said it scrambled its F-15 jets because it was worried about possible “airspace violations.”
Guo Jiakun, spokesman for the ministry of foreign affairs, accused Japan Wednesday of sending the jets “to intrude into the Chinese training area without authorization, conduct close-range reconnaissance and harassment, create tense situations, and continue to maliciously hype up the situation.”
Takaichi’s comments about intervening in any Taiwan emergency enraged Beijing as China claims the self-ruled island as its own and has not ruled out seizing it by force.
Tokyo was forced to deny a Wall Street Journal report that said US President Donald Trump had advised Takaichi not to provoke China over Taiwan’s sovereignty.
But Tokyo is apparently frustrated at the lack of public support from top officials in Washington and has urged the US to be more vocal, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.
- ‘Regrettable’ -
NATO chief Mark Rutte said on Wednesday that the radar incident and the joint Chinese-Russian patrols were “regrettable,” Japan’s Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said on X.
The statement followed a 15-minute video conference between Rutte and Koizumi, the defense ministry said in a statement.
Rutte “affirmed that security in the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic regions is completely inseparable,” Koizumi said.
South Korea said Tuesday that Russian and Chinese warplanes also entered its air defense zone, with Seoul also deploying fighter jets that same day.
Beijing confirmed later on Tuesday that it had organized drills with Russia’s military according to “annual cooperation plans.”
Moscow also described it as a routine exercise, saying it lasted eight hours and that some foreign fighter jets followed the Russian and Chinese aircraft.
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