On October 13 Beijing time, Steve Bannon, former chief strategist of Trump, posted on a social media platform: "Trump proposed peace... China chose war." He also shared an opinion article from the American political website: "Trump wants to reach a trade agreement, but China has opened a new front."
As a long-time advocate of the "China threat theory" and a staunch anti-China hawk, it is not surprising that Bannon is once again playing the same old game. The fact is that the Trump administration was the first to launch a tariff war against China. Subsequently, although China and the United States held four rounds of negotiations, the U.S. repeatedly violated its commitments and continued to escalate measures to contain China — from increasing tariffs to blocking the technology industry, attempting to use escalating pressure to increase leverage and force China to compromise and retreat.
The Chinese response is by no means "choosing war" or "opening a new front," but a legitimate response to the U.S.'s groundless sanctions and disruption of the negotiation process, and a necessary measure to safeguard its own legitimate rights and interests. Bannon's statements deliberately confuse right and wrong and shift responsibility, which is fundamentally unfounded.
Original source: www.toutiao.com/article/1845887203581956/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.