Beijing - Chinese state media warned US President-elect
Donald Trump that he’ll be met with "big sticks" if he tries to
ignite a trade war or further strain ties.
"There are flowers around the gate of China’s
Ministry of Commerce, but there are also big sticks hidden inside the door -
they both await Americans," the Communist Party’s Global Times newspaper
wrote in an editorial Thursday in response to Trump’s plans to
nominate lawyer Robert Lighthizer, who has criticised Beijing’s trade
practices, as U.S. trade representative.
The latest salvo from state-run outlets followed others
last month aimed at Peter Navarro, a University of California at Irvine
economics professor and critic of China’s trade practices whom Trump last month
named to head a newly formed White House National Trade Council. Those picks
plus billionaire Wilbur Ross, the nominee for commerce secretary, will form an
"iron curtain" of protectionism in Trump’s economic and trade team,
the paper wrote.
Read also: Too big to fail: China maps out its Trump strategy
The three share Trump’s strong anti-globalisation
beliefs and seem unlikely to keep building the current trade order, it said,
adding that they will be more interested in disrupting the world trade order.
BLOOMBERG