By Austin Maho
The Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria Yu Dunhai has described US tariffs as a war imposed by the United States on the rest of the world, emphasizing that this was the proper way to describe the situation rather than simply calling it a trade war.
Ambassador Dunhai spoke today in Abuja during an interactive session with journalists in the light of the recent tariffs imposed by the United States
“Its not a trade war but a war imposed by the US on the rest of the world”
Noting that the rest of the world must come together to confront the United States
“Appeasement is not the way out we have to come out to defend our national interest” emphasingn that trying to appease the United States under president Donald Trump will only lead to an escalation not a resolution of the crisis.
“No one is going to be immuned from this crisis, that is why the rest of the world must come together to confront the challenge” because according to him submitting to the United States would amount to a loss of sovereignty
“You lose your sovereignty if the bully is allowed to have his way. We should not allow might is right to rule the world”. He said
He noted that the tariffs may lead to a global recession in which no one is going to be immuned. However he noted that the “US will end up isolating itself because it is nolonger the beacon of the world.
He noted that China Nigeria relationship is on the upswing as trade between Nigeria and China has reached over 22 billion USD making Nigeria a major trading partner with China.
On the Naira/Yuan swap policy, Ambassador Dunhai said China is desirous to see modernization and growth between the two sides and more financial cooperation beyond infrastructural development. He said China has consistently granted preferential loan to Nigeria which is far below the international standard to aid the development of infrastructure in the country. He said that the currency swap policy will contribute to development and facilitate trade between China and Nigeria noting that the policy has been extended and about two billion USD set aside to facilitate the policy and facilitate trade transaction between both countries to save exchange rate
