The push-back against Beijing: Will China still have the last laugh?

Mr Trump's tariffs will hurt the US as much as China, and businessmen in most countries are fearing losses in the Chinese market, should their governments become hostile to Beijing, writes T N Ninan

Are Chinese expansionism and aggressiveness, noticeably ramped up in recent years, beginning to cost the country? So it would seem. For many years Beijing had got away with combining technology theft with a mercantilist trade and currency policy, following it up with a new assertiveness in foreign policy. That period as a free-rider has ended with Donald Trump’s frontal tariff assault on Chinese exports to the US. The US too will hurt as American consumers pay higher prices, but some producing units may move out of China. The yuan this year has fallen more than many Asian currencies.
 
Meanwhile,