China Has 'Sticks Behind Door' To Combat U.S. On Trade: Press

     BEIJING (MNI) - China has "sticks behind the door" it can use in case the

United States attempts to force concessions out of Beijing when it comes to

trade, the Global Times said in an editorial published Wednesday. 

     The nationalistic newspaper, commenting on U.S. Trade Representative Robert

Lighthizer's remark on Monday that China's economic model represents an

"unprecedented" threat to the global trade system, said Lighthizer "should

exhibit more common sense, knowing that trade isn't sustainable if one side

keeps profiting from the other." 

     The editorial pointed to China's increasing purchases of U.S. Treasuries

and its status as the biggest holder of U.S. debt as "the epitome of mutually

beneficial trade relations." 

     It said China continued to import U.S. goods -- including some that are

"not favored by Chinese" such as "some terribly produced Hollywood movies" -- in

order to achieve a more equitable trade balance with the U.S. 

     The editorial also said that Chinese companies suspected by the U.S. of

illegal trade practices are "characterized by hard work, innovation and active

adaptation to the global market economy," whose only support from the Chinese

government comes by way of policy. 

     "Calling China a threat to the world trade system is untenable," the

editorial said. "It is the U.S.'s degeneration from leader of the international

trade system to destroyer-in-chief that represents an unprecedented threat to

global trade."

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: vince.morkri@marketnews.com

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