“When Trade Stops, War Starts” Jack Ma Warns As China Protests US Sanctions On Iran

Having recently accused the US of ‘wasting $14 trillion on war instead of its people’, China’s second richest man, Jack Ma, continued to voice his concerns to President Trump on a recent trip to Australia, warning retreat from globalization will only result in trouble.

While meeting US President Donald Trump last month, Ma announced Alibaba would help to create a million jobs in the US, but speaking in Melbourne, where the e-commerce giant Alibaba opened its Australia and New Zealand headquarters, RT reports that Ma warned…

“Everybody is concerned about trade wars. If trade stops, war starts,”

“But worry doesn’t solve the problem. The only thing you can do is get involved and actively prove that trade helps people to communicate,”

The globalized economy is more than just transactions of money and goods, according to Ma.

“We have to actively prove that trade helps people to communicate. And we should have fair trade, transparent trade, inclusive trade,” he said.

“Trade is about a trade of values. Trade of culture,” said the billionaire, stressing that he felt a personal responsibility to fly more than a hundred thousand kilometers in the past month to promote global commerce.

Jack Ma spoke with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Friday about creating ‘a regional e-hub’ a trade zone allowing freer online business with less border bureaucracy to deal with… which for now appears not to include the US.

Furthermore, Ma’s words came at the same time as Reuters reports that China on Monday said it had “lodged representations” with the United States over Washington’s new sanctions list targeting Iran, which includes Chinese companies and individuals.

The sanctions on 25 people and entities imposed on Friday by President Donald Trump’s administration, and came two days it had put Iran ‘on notice’ following a ballistic missile test.

Those affected by the sanctions cannot access the U.S. financial system or deal with U.S. companies, and are subject to secondary sanctions, meaning foreign companies and individuals are prohibited from dealing with them or risk being blacklisted by the United States.

The list includes two Chinese companies and three Chinese people, only one of whom the U.S. Treasury Department explicitly said was a Chinese citizen, a person called Qin Xianhua.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said that Beijing had lodged a protest with Washington, and that such sanctions, particularly when they harmed the interests of a third party, were “not helpful” in promoting mutual trust.

“We have consistently opposed any unilateral sanctions,” Lu told a regular press briefing.

Executives of two Chinese companies included on the list said on Sunday they had only exported “normal” goods to the Middle Eastern country and didn’t consider they had done anything wrong.