‘New Cold War’: Trade war puts China-US ties at risk

 

There is a grim realisation among China’s leaders that a full blown trade war with the US is now about to become a reality.

Beijing, China – They have been dismantling the old US Embassy in Beijing. Its diplomats moved to a vast complex on the other side of the city years ago.

But this week – of all weeks – Chinese workmen finally began tearing down the old building. It is happening brick by brick and seems like a fitting metaphor for the state of Sino-US ties.

Whatever the outcome of the 11th round of trade talks in Washington, the relationship is bad and it’s going to stay bad for a long time.

The dispute is a symptom of wider friction between the world’s two leading economies: Taiwan, the South China Sea, Huawei, Iran … honestly, the list is endless.
It’s a new Cold War with trade at its core.

Only this week, the United States barred China Mobile – the country’s largest mobile provider – over espionage concerns – the same reason it gave for blocking Huawei, another Chinese telecommunications giant.

https://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/asia/2019/05/cold-war-trade-war-puts-china-ties-risk-190510084639907.html