Surprise: China is not too pleased that an economist who's referred to Beijing as "the planet's most efficient assassin" will head the new White House National Trade Council. "The US can no longer push China around today," says China's state-run tabloid Global Times in an editorial responding to the appointment of Peter Navarro, a professor at University of California, Irvine who advised Trump during his campaign and has blamed China for US economic woes, per the Guardian. "If Washington dares to provoke China over its core interests, Beijing won't fear setting up a showdown with the US, pressuring the latter to pay respect to China," it adds, per Reuters.
China Daily, meanwhile, labeled Navarro, 67, as the "mastermind" behind Trump's attacks on China, and flagged what it see as his "anti-China alarmism," per the Telegraph. "That individuals such as Navarro who have a bias against China are being picked to work in leading positions in the next administration, is no laughing matter," its editorial reads, adding disrupting economic and trade ties "will only result in a loss for both sides." China was less fiery in its official response on Thursday, per the Wall Street Journal: "China like every other country is closely watching the policy direction the US is going to take," said a Foreign Ministry rep who did not refer to Navarro by name. (More China stories.)
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