At a global investment conference last Friday, in St. Petersburg, Russia, “Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping teamed up…to gang up on U.S. President Donald Trump,” the Daily Beast reported via a New York Times report, as they Herald the Virtues of Globalism, Critiquing the U.S. on Trade.
The two leaders have been strengthening their countries’ trade ties in the wake of the Trump administration’s trade war with China. Putin, in a speech on Friday, hinted that trade wars could escalate to “real wars,” according to the New York Times. He also accused the United States of “pretending” to support free markets only to now oppose them because of China’s threats to American dominance. In his speech on Friday, Xi suggested that the U.S. not throw out trade rules they were unhappy with but work to improve them. “If you are unhappy with fleas in your fur coat, you should not throw the fur coat in the oven,” he said, according to the official translation handout. “The current multilateral trade system has to be protected.”
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — In back-to-back speeches at an investment conference Friday, the leaders of Russia and China cast themselves as the champions of free markets and global trade, an overt show of opposition to what they portrayed as the United States’ retreat into protectionism with sanctions and tariffs.
President Xi Jinping of China spoke expansively about his country’s firm support for globalization and open borders, saying that “we all must work to bring about a harmonious world.”
In his speech, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia took a much darker turn, hinting that trade wars could turn into real wars. He argued that the United States, after decades of “pretending” to promote free markets, had been turning its back on them because powerful economic competitors had emerged, threatening America’s dominance.
Together, the two leaders’ remarks highlighted the strengthening ties between Russia and China as their relations with the United States sour.
New York Times
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