Beijing: China said that the US is using fentanyl as a “flimsy excuse” to raise tariffs on Chinese imports and “if war is what the US wants,” be it tariff or trade war, Beijing is ready to “fight till the end.”

The statement by Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian came as a reaction to the question posed by the New York Times , asking for reactions to the further increase of tariffs to 10 per cent by the US on most goods from China. In his remarks, he said, “The fentanyl issue is a flimsy excuse to raise US tariffs on Chinese imports. Our countermeasures to defend our rights and interests are fully legitimate and necessary.” He further added that it is America and not anyone else responsible for the Fentanyl crisis in the country. Lin Jian said, “In the spirit of humanity and goodwill towards the American people, we have taken robust steps to assist the US in dealing with the issue. Instead of recognizing our efforts, the US has sought to smear and shift blame to China, and is seeking to pressure and blackmail China with tariff hikes. They’ve been PUNISHING us for helping them. This is not going to solve the U.S.’s problem and will undermine our counternarcotics dialogue and cooperation.”

The Chinese spokesperson further said, “Intimidation does not scare us. Bullying does not work on us. Pressuring, coercion or threats are not the right way of dealing with China. Anyone using maximum pressure on China is picking the wrong guy and miscalculating. If the US truly wants to solve the fentanyl issue, then the right thing to do is to consult with China by treating each other as equals.” He concluded his remarks stating, “If war is what the US wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end.” China announced a 7.2 per cent increase of its national defence budget totalling to USD 249 billion this year amid its hectic efforts to modernise armed forces, including fast paced development of warships and new generation fighter jets. The planned defence expenditure for the country is 1.784665 trillion yuan (about USD 249 billion) this year, according to a draft budget report submitted to China’s Parliament by Premier Li Qiang, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Last year, China increased its defence budget by 7.2 per cent to about USD 232 billion (1.67 trillion yuan). China has the world’s second-largest military budget after the US whose latest defence spending amounted to over USD 890 billion as proposed by President Donald Trump.