China hits back at Trump trade war threats in Biden debate

Chinese officials Newsweek After former president and current Republican candidate Donald Trump took a tough stance against Beijing during a debate with President Joe Biden, he said the United States would not win a bilateral trade war.

“Regarding U.S.-China trade, we want to emphasize that U.S.-China economic and trade cooperation is mutually beneficial in nature,” said Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in the United States. Newsweek“No one wins in a trade war or a tariff war.”

“Arbitrary restrictions and protectionism will only disrupt normal trade flows and the stability of production and supply chains, and will not benefit anyone,” Peng Yu said.

The comments came after President Trump defended his push to impose a 10% tariff on all products imported from the US, arguing that the move would raise costs for foreign exporters rather than domestic consumers.

“This is just going to force countries that have been cheating us for years, including China and, to be fair, many other countries besides China, to pay a lot of money and reduce their deficits substantially,” Trump said during his first debate with Biden of the 2024 election season, “and give us the power to do a lot of other things.”

It wasn’t the only time the former US leader mentioned China throughout the night.

Indeed, Trump mentioned China 12 times during the 90-minute meeting, second only to Russia among all foreign powers mentioned.

The United States and China are the world’s first and second largest economies, respectively, and Beijing’s rapid economic, military and technological growth has been seen by both the Trump and Biden administrations as the biggest threat to Washington’s efforts to maintain global dominance.

But Liu took issue with the tone and frequency of references to China throughout what became one of the most contentious debates in U.S. history.

“China adheres to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries and will not comment on issues related to the U.S. presidential election,” Liu said. “At the same time, we oppose the U.S. frequently making China an issue in the elections.”

“No matter who is elected, China hopes that Sino-US relations will continue to develop in a healthy and stable manner,” he said, adding that “China will continue to approach Sino-US relations in accordance with the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation.”

But with U.S.-China relations having deteriorated sharply, Trump took multiple opportunities on Friday to blast Biden for what he saw as an overly conciliatory approach toward Beijing. In addition to trade issues, Trump touted his administration’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, a near-universal international treaty, claiming it “cost the United States a trillion dollars and nothing for China, Russia and India.”

Biden rejoined the agreement as soon as he took office in 2021, and on Thursday argued that his rival Trump has “done nothing on the environment,” while also refuting Trump’s self-proclaimed accomplishments in other areas of China policy.

“The reality is, there has been no contact or progress with China,” Biden said. “Our trade deficit with China is at its lowest since 2010.”

Biden frequently stumbled over his words during the debate, sometimes unable to finish sentences, sparking panic among Democrats and even calls for him to resign amid concerns about the 81-year-old president’s age and mental health.

But Trump, 78, who was criticized by fact-checkers for frequently distorting the facts throughout the night, dug deeper into his claims, even accusing the sitting leader of accepting money from the People’s Republic of China.

“Under this man’s administration, we have the largest deficit in our history. We have the largest deficit with China,” Trump said. “He’s getting paid by China. He’s the ‘Manchurian Candidate.’ He’s getting paid by China. So maybe he’s scared to do business with China or something.”

There is no evidence that Biden was coerced by Beijing, and in fact he has pursued many of the Trump administration’s policies and taken a tougher stance toward China on many issues, something that Trump acknowledged in his subsequent attacks.

“But do you notice? He didn’t eliminate the tariffs. The tariffs that I put on China are costing the United States a lot of money. He didn’t eliminate the tariffs,” Trump said. “He can’t, because the tariffs are too big. Huge amounts of money. And we saved the steel industry. And there was even more to come, and he didn’t do it.”

Another talking point cited by Trump was that Chinese President Xi Jinping, along with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin, “neither respects nor fears” Biden, which could lead to a World War III scenario.

Biden, who has previously traveled 17,000 miles with Xi and inaccurately claimed to have spent the most time with him of any world leader, has argued that the most likely path to disaster is another Trump presidency, especially if the three-time Republican presidential candidate offers Putin a favorable deal in the ongoing war in Ukraine.

China was not the only country to hit back at the candidates’ comments during the debate, as America’s global leadership was called into question.

After Trump said he ultimately would not accept the terms of Putin’s Ukraine peace proposal, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told state news agency TASS on Friday that “when the time comes, President Trump will understand that there is no alternative to President Putin’s proposal, regardless of his future status.”

The Iranian Mission to the United Nations also Newsweek This is a rebuttal to both candidates’ claims that they are taking a tougher stance against the Islamic Republic.

“We have no intention of interfering in the domestic politics of the United States,” the Iranian delegation said. Newsweek“However, the statements made in these debates and campaigns are less credible because they are more emotional than logical and lack strategic backing.”

Media around the world, including in key US allies, were also closely following the incident, with much of it focusing heavily on Biden’s missteps.