Following U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to slap additional tariffs on $100 billion in imports from China on Thursday, experts and media outlets in China have slammed the decision as “an economic dead end,” stressing that the country and the public are not afraid of such “inequitable treatment.”

“The tariff conflict between U.S. and China has become an international political game. The U.S. has been trying to obstruct China’s fast development, as China’s economic achievements have caused U.S. anxiety. Most of the tariffs are targeting China’s high-tech industries, which are crucial for the country’s future development,” People’s Daily Online reported in a commentary on Sunday.

According to the commentary, China’s scientific development has been booming in recent years despite U.S. high-tech export control towards China, and China has the confidence to tackle any unjust tariffs from the U.S.

“If the White House wants to launch an even bigger trade war against us, we have only one response, that is we are not afraid of you,” the commentary added.

Though criticizing China for not abiding by WTO rules and intellectual theft, statistics from the WTO indicate that as of 2017, China is involved in 40 international trade disputes, while the number for the U.S. is 137.

"These tariffs that have targeted China confirm that the Trump administration intends to bypass the WTO's dispute settlement body and rely on U.S. law unilaterally regarding the ongoing trade dispute with China. That is a big mistake," according to R. Taylor, a political science professor at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas, which he told Xinhua on Saturday.

The unjust tariffs have also evoked criticism from foreign political figures and the public. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who called China a pillar of the multilateral system, told Xinhua that trade wars are always bad for those involved and for the international economy as a whole, while Martin Wansleben, chief executive of the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said that new tariffs and trade barriers not only inflict additional costs on companies and consumers but also hurt innovation.

In response to the tariffs, the Chinese government has been reiterating its stance on negotiation while also noting that the country is not afraid of a trade war.

According to a statement from China’s Ministry of Commerce on Friday, the country will fight at any cost and take comprehensive countermeasures if the U.S. continues its unilateral and protectionist practices, while on the same day, China’s ministry of foreign affairs stressed that China will not hesitate to fight back fiercely.