China and Russia denoun­ced the use of 'blackm­ail' Friday in thinly-veiled rebuke­s of Presid­ent Donald TrumpNEW YORK: China and Russia denounced the use of ‘blackmail’ Friday in thinly-veiled rebukes of President Donald Trump, highlighting the chasm between the US and its rivals on issues ranging from trade to the war in Syria. Days after Trump slapped $200 billion in tariffs and vowed to press on until China buckles, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the UN General Assembly that Beijing would not be bowed. China, Russia call at UN for easing of North Korea sanctions“China will not be blackmailed or yield to pressure,” Wang told the chamber amid an escalating trade war between Washington and Beijing. Russia’s foreign minister took to the same stage, condemning countries that resort to “political blackmail, economic pressure and brute force” in a bid to prevent the emergence of rival global powers. In his speech to the chamber, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas also took an apparent swipe at Trump’s “America First” foreign policy.

Source: The Express Tribune September 29, 2018 07:41 UTC