Chinese state media on Friday expressed alarm and warned of a "showdown with the U.S." after President-elect Donald Trump named Peter Navarro, an economist who has urged a hard line against China, to head a new White House National Trade Council.
Navarro is an academic and one-time investment adviser who has authored books such as "Death by China: How America Lost its Manufacturing Base". The book was made into a documentary film about Beijing's desire to become the dominant economic and military power in Asia.
"That individuals such as Navarro who have a bias against China are being picked to work in leading positions in the next administration, is no laughing matter," the official English-language China Daily said in an editorial.
"The new administration should bear in mind that with economic and trade ties between the world's two largest economies now the closest they have ever been, any move to damage the win-win relationship will only result in a loss for both sides."
