Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Monday 12 March 2018

China says no to US trade war, but vows to defend interests

By YANAN WANG challenge and will reso-
Associated Press lutely defend the interests
BEIJING (AP) — China said of our country and our
Sunday that it would not people,” he said.
initiate a trade war with the It was Beijing’s latest state-
United States, but vowed ment on “problems in Sino-
to defend its national inter- U.S. economic trade and
ests in the face of growing cooperation,” alluding to
American protectionism. President Donald Trump’s
“There are no winners in plan to impose heavy tar-
a trade war, and it would iffs on imported steel and
bring disaster to our two aluminum. Trump said
countries as well as the Thursday that he was slap-
rest of the world,” Minister ping tariffs of 25 percent on
of Commerce Zhong Shan imported steel and 10 per-
said at a briefing on the cent on aluminum, tempo-
sidelines of China’s annual rarily exempting big steel
parliamentary session. producers Canada and
“China does not wish to Mexico.
fight a trade war, nor will Chinese leaders have
China initiate a trade war, threatened in the past to
but we can handle any retaliate against raised

Chinese Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan speaks at a press conference in Beijing, Sunday,
March 11, 2018. China says it will not initiate a “disastrous” trade war with the United States, but is
vowing to defend its national interests in the face of growing American protectionism.
(Li Xin/Xinhua via AP)
trade barriers, but have yet been overstating its trade governments generally re-
to take direct action fol- deficit with China by about port widely differing trade
lowing Trump’s announce- 20 percent every year. He figures because Beijing
ment. gave no details on how counts only the first port to
Citing Chinese research- this figure was reached, which goods go instead of
ers, Zhong said the U.S. has but the U.S. and Chinese their final destination.q

UN rights chief:
Philippines’ Duterte should undergo checks

GENEVA (AP) — The United answered.” Speaking to killings, Agnes Callamard,
Nations’ human rights chief reporters in Geneva, the lashing out at her for raising
suggested Friday that Phil- rights chief referred to a alarm over the thousands
ippine President Rodrigo court petition filed last of suspects killed under his
Duterte “needs to submit month by Duterte’s gov- anti-drug crackdown. He
himself to some sort of psy- ernment accusing the U.N. has also taken aim at In-
chiatric evaluation” over rapporteur on indigenous ternational Criminal Court
his “unacceptable” re- peoples, Victoria Tauli-Cor- prosecutor Fatou Bensou-
marks about some top hu- puz, and others of being da, who announced last
man rights defenders. members of a key commu- month that she was open-
Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein nist rebel group. ing a preliminary examina-
demanded that the Hu- Human Rights Watch says tion into alleged extrajudi-
man Rights Council, which the allegations, which Tau- cial drug killings.
counts the Philippines li-Corpuz has denied, have In a speech Wednesday,
among its 47 member put her and some 600 other Duterte insulted the inter-
countries, “must take a people in danger. national court’s justices as
strong position” on the is- The Filipino leader also has “dumb” and “evil,” and
sue, and insisted “these repeatedly insulted the said Callamard was “thin”
attacks cannot go un- U.N. expert on extrajudicial and “undernourished.” q