In a position paper released on Saturday evening, the Chinese foreign ministry said the US levies had “severely violated” the legitimate interests of other countries and “severely undermined the rules-based multilateral trade system”.
The paper, the first such statement from Beijing on the tariffs issue, also called on the world to “jointly oppose all forms of unilateralism and protectionism” and “safeguard the international system with the United Nations at its core”.
“China has and will continue to take resolute measures to maintain our sovereignty, security and development interests,” it said, while urging the US to “stop using tariffs as a weapon to suppress China’s economy and trade, and stop undermining the legitimate development rights of the Chinese people”.
“The market has spoken,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun posted on Facebook earlier on Saturday as he highlighted the US rout.
