Trump to accuse China of “economic aggression”: a big joke

U.S. President Donald Trump (File Photo)

U.S. President Trump is set to deliver a speech on Monday outlining a new U.S. national security strategy. Some Western media have disclosed that the report will define China as a competitor in every realm and will lay out a more aggressive approach toward China. The Financial Times reported on Saturday that Trump will accuse China of engaging in “economic aggression.”

However, a White House official told CNBC that the Financial Times report is “not accurate,” adding that the phrase is not specifically linked to China.

It remains to be seen what Trump will say about China on Monday, but it is unlikely that the Trump administration would go so far as to accuse China, one of America’s largest trade partners of “economic aggression,” with at least one Chinese report calling the thought of “economic aggression against the United States” weird and absurd.

"It's hegemonic for the US to accuse any country of economical aggression since no country is able to do so," said the Global Times in an editorial.

The Chinese newspaper said that it is understandable for top American leaders to attach importance to U.S. economic growth, but it can be comical and dangerous if they are neurotic about it.

In the U.S. government, some people are constantly sounding the “China threat” alarm, but both countries benefit from the trade relationship. Issues in the China-U.S. trade relationship do exist, but Chinese side has called for solving those issues through negotiation and consultation.

"No country in the world is aggressive against the United States. Whether it's security or economy or culture, no country can manage its own economic security more than the United States. If you follow the U.S. standard in this report, then the United States is an aggressor against all countries in the world,” said Song Guoyou, Deputy Director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University.

"'Make America Great Again' should be through cooperation with the world, and economic reforms need to be carried out in America. If muscle or even confrontation is resorted to, the result is likely to be counterproductive," he added.

The national security strategy is a formal document produced by every U.S. president since Ronald Reagan. Reagan, who unveiled the first report in 1987, said that the United States should foster closer relations with China and that the importance of China “speaks for itself.”