Important Takeaways:

• China has said it is “ready for war” with America as it raises defense spending and imposes retaliatory tariffs on US imports.
• In a direct threat to Donald Trump, China’s representatives in America said: “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 until the end.”
• The US has hit China with 20 percent tariffs in response to what the White House considers to be Chinese inaction over the flow of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, into America.
• In combative statements online, China’s ministry of foreign affairs and US embassy warned Washington that “intimidation does not scare us” and criticized Mr. Trump for linking tariffs to the fentanyl crisis.
• The fiery language comes as China’s top legislature met for annual Two Sessions meetings in Beijing, where the plans to boost defense spending were revealed.
• The rise in spending is equal to the jump last year and takes the official budget to roughly 1.78 trillion yuan (£190 billion), as China pursues the goal of Xi Jinping, its president, to build a modern military by 2027.
• On Wednesday, Li Qiang, China’s premier… said Beijing “will step up military training and combat readiness so as to firmly safeguard China’s sovereignty, security and development interests”.
• China has stoked alarm with increasingly aggressive moves in Asia and the Pacific – including recent live-fire drills off the Australian coast, military exercises close to Taiwan and Vietnam and confrontations with the Philippine coast guard in the South China Sea. Japan, South Korea and India have all criticized the projections of military might.
• Earlier this week, it was revealed that China is developing a new nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, which would be larger and more advanced than any vessel in its fleet, in an attempt to rival the US.

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