Sino-US trade war will worsen global crisis

There are rising worries among the international community that China and the United States are going to a trade war at a time when the world desperately needs concerted efforts to tackle the escalating global financial crisis.

US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner accused China of currency manipulation in a hearing to the Congress after he took office. To calm official and academic refutations from the Chinese side, the White House later explained that its policy on China's exchange rate is still being studied and yet to be confirmed.

However, the tough stance by the new US treasury chief, whatever motivated it, heralds a possible escalation of long-standing economic frictions between the world's two heavyweight economies in the time ahead.