FM calls on EU, Britain to jointly uphold intl order

Amid the United States' indiscriminate attacks on other countries through its arbitrary imposition of tariffs, China is working with nations that support and benefit from the multilateral trading system to find the largest possible common ground to address the threats and challenges posed by Washington, analysts said.

The latest such effort was made on Tuesday when Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on the United Kingdom and the European Union to jointly safeguard the multilateral trading system during his phone conversations, respectively, with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger.

Wang told Lammy that the US has weaponized tariffs to launch indiscriminate attacks on other countries, openly violating World Trade Organization rules and undermining the legitimate rights and interests of nations around the world.

Such actions, which push international relations back to the law of the jungle, represent a dangerous regression in history, he said, adding that the US' moves are unpopular and unsustainable, and are being increasingly met with resistance and opposition from the global community.

Wang emphasized that by standing up against the US' use of tariffs as a weapon, China, as a responsible country, aims not only to defend its own legitimate rights and interests but also to uphold international rules and the multilateral trading system.

Lammy said that as permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, the UK and China bear significant responsibilities for the sustainable development of the world economy and international trade, and the UK is ready to maintain communication with China on this matter.

Cui Hongjian, director of Beijing Foreign Studies University's Center for European Union and Regional Development Studies, said that globalization has shaped the world into an interdependent economic structure, which has benefited China and most other countries, but the US' arbitrary imposition of tariffs has disrupted this entire ecosystem of global trade.

"In responding to Washington's unilateralism, countries have reacted differently due to various reasons. However, no country wishes to see a challenge, like the one posed by the US, to the effective order and rules that everyone has agreed upon. Moreover, the US' challenge to the order is not aimed at creating a better order, but rather establishing one that is more advantageous to itself," he said.

Cui noted that the principles guiding the multilateral trading system are inclusiveness and equality, while the new order the US is pursuing is unequal and asymmetrical, and benefits the US alone.

"That's why it's important for countries to strengthen communication and work in solidarity, in order to reach a consensus on safeguarding the universally beneficial international order," he said.

During his phone call with Meinl-Reisinger, Foreign Minister Wang said that Washington's arbitrary imposition of tariffs is a typical act of unilateralism, protectionism and economic bullying that severely undermines international trade rules and order.

China, as a responsible major country, is willing to share development opportunities with the world through high-level opening-up, he said.

Wang also said that China and the EU, as two pillars and major markets of the global economy, should shoulder international responsibilities, jointly defend the multilateral trading system, and work together to build an open world economy.

Noting the profound changes in the current international landscape, Meinl-Reisinger said the EU looks forward to enhancing economic and trade cooperation with China, maintaining the stable and constructive development of EU-China relations and jointly addressing global challenges. The EU will unite to safeguard its own interests and the multilateral trading system, she added.

Shi Shiwei, a senior researcher at the Beijing-based University of International Business and Economics' Research Center for China-EU Economic Cooperation, said that over the past few years, China and its trading partners have brought significant benefits to their own peoples through economic and trade cooperation.

"In the face of unilateral economic bullying by an unreasonable but powerful opponent like the US, it is important to be united to safeguard multilateralism," he said.

Shi noted that China and the EU upholding multilateralism and free trade is not empty rhetoric. "That is because the US relies more on China's industrial products and the EU's high-end machinery than China and the EU rely on the US," he said.

mojingxi@chinadaily.com.cn