White House report blasts Chinese ‘malign activities’ – Washington Post

Early Thursday morning in Asia, the Washington Post came out with the news, relying on the senior Trump administration official, to convey the White House report, published Wednesday, which harshly criticizes China on all grounds.

Key quotes

Beyond its hard-hitting rhetoric against China over its handling of the coronavirus, the White House on Wednesday issued a broad-scale attack on Beijing’s predatory economic policies, military buildup, disinformation campaigns and human rights violations.

The 20-page report does not signal a shift in U.S. policy, according to a senior administration official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the report and spoke only on condition of anonymity, but it expands on Trump’s get-tough rhetoric that he hopes will resonate with voters angry about China’s handling of the disease outbreak that has left tens of millions of Americans out of work.

According to the report, the Trump administration sees ‘no value’ in engaging with Beijing for symbolism and pageantry. ‘When quiet diplomacy proves futile, the United States will increase public pressure’ on China.

FX implications

Given the news adds to the US-China tussle and should ideally weigh on the market’s risk-tone, S&P 500 Futures drop 0.13% to 2,967 by the press time.