On Tuesday, April 22nd, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Britain and the EU to help defend the global trade against the increasingly threatening tariffs politics of the United States. As the U.S. wages a trade war on China and the Old Continent, this move is seen as an effort by China to create an alliance with other global powers against Washington.
According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry statement, Wang told his British counterpart David Lammy, “Against the current backdrop of rampant unilateral bullying, China and the UK have a responsibility to… safeguard the multilateral trading order”,
As for the European Union, Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger received a separate phone call from Wang, who said “China and the EU should shoulder international responsibilities, jointly defend the multilateral trading system, and work together to build an open world economy.”
Britain’s and the EU’s response to these calls are not yet known. Following President Trump’s announcement of retaliatory tariffs, London favored negotiations with the U.S. in hopes of striking a deal, while EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed counter-tariffs, escalating the trade conflict.
