On March 4th, the additional tariffs imposed on Chinese imports by the U.S. President, Donald Trump, took effect, which triggered a strict response from the official Beijing.
According to the Chinese Embassy in the U.S., “If war is what the U.S. wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end.” Apart from this, the Chinese Foreign Ministry representative commented on the issue and once again highlighted China’s readiness to “fight till the end” in case the U.S. wants to harm the country’s interests. The spokesperson urged the United States to return to dialogue and cooperation.
The American Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, answered the statements coming from China in an interview with Fox News. He underlined the rise of countries with different ideologies in the world and stated that if the goal is to deter war with China or any other state, the country needs to be strong: “We need the defense spending, the capabilities, the weapons, and the posture in the Indo-Pacific, which is something we’re very much focused on.”
One of the spokespeople of the National People’s Congress talked about said topic with journalists as well, according to him, China’s relationship with the U.S. is bound to see disagreements, but Beijing will not accept pressure or threats.
