KATHMANDU, June 27 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. trade war against China is unjust and guided by the notion of preventing China's rise to keep the U.S. superpower status unchallenged, Nepal's Former Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal has said.
Washington has waged a trade war on China, imposing extra tariffs on Chinese goods and blacklisting Chinese technology companies to prevent U.S. companies from doing business with them.
Khanal, who is also a senior leader of the ruling Nepal Communist Party, told Xinhua on Wednesday that the U.S.-initiated trade war against China is "unjust," and the United States has remained as the only superpower in the world for a long time and wants to keep this status.
China could withstand the maximum pressure tactics of the United States, because China is a big country that has huge natural, human and cultural resources and it has found its own road for economic development, he said.
"China has all the strength to fight such an unjust war. Ultimately, in this trade war, nobody will be the winner ... (and) the world economy will lose," he said.
Khanal noted that besides China, many other countries have also become victims of Washington's unilateral actions.
In the name of protecting domestic industries, Washington has slapped steep tariffs on billions of U.S. dollars' worth of products from its partners, heightening trade tensions worldwide and rocking the foundation of the multilateral trading system.
"So, the developing countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America are coming together against U.S. unilateralism," said the former prime minister.
Khanal said the world still expects that China and the United States "should sit together, talk together and solve their issues."
Last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping held a telephone conversation with his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, at the latter's request. Xi said the two sides should, in accordance with the consensus he has reached with Trump, promote the China-U.S. relationship featuring coordination, cooperation and stability on the basis of mutual respect and mutual benefit.
Khanal said that countries should protect rule-based trade relations in the world amid increasing unilateral actions from the United States.
"The World Trade Organization rules are global rules which should not be disturbed," Khanal said, adding that multilateralism and cooperation among nations should be protected.
