Parts of north China recorded some of their coldest temperatures this winter in recent days, with thermometers plummeting as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius as a frigid cold gripped the region.
Hulun Buir, a city in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, recorded a temperature of minus 40 degrees Celsius on Sunday.
In Alongshan, the mercury dropped to minus 44 degrees Celsius, the coldest temperature in the town this winter.
The towns of Yitulihe and Mangui were shrouded in ice fog, severely reducing visibility. Vehicles crawled along with fog lights on, while pedestrians, wrapped up tightly against the cold, had thick frost accumulating on their hats and eyelashes
"The wind feels like needles on the face. We dare not stop working. If we do, we'll freeze completely," said a sanitation worker.
According to the local meteorological agency in Hulun Buir, 13 of the city's 45 weather monitoring stations reported temperatures below minus 40 degree Celsius from Saturday morning to Sunday morning.
Light snow is expected in parts of Hailar throughout the week.
Meanwhile, in Daxing'anling, a prefecture in northern parts of Heilongjiang Province, temperatures also plummeted dramatically.
On Saturday, temperatures dropped to minus 41.5 degree Celsius in Huzhong District, causing the fur of local dogs to be frosted white from the cold.
Despite the extreme temperatures, the Humar River continues to flow, presenting a unique spectacle.
Temperatures drop below minus 40 degrees Celsius in parts of north China
The universal "reciprocal tariffs" imposed by the United States signals a decline in the U.S. economic dominance and dollar hegemony, as the country is attempting to extract excessive financial benefits from its trading partners, according to economists, who warn the Trump administration is playing a "dangerous game".
U.S. President Donald Trump last week signed an executive order on the so-called "reciprocal tariffs," imposing a 10-percent "minimum baseline tariff" before unveiling higher rates on certain trading partners. The policy sent shockwaves throughout the global economy and triggered panic on financial markets, with analysts warning of significant risks and dire economic consequences.
In an interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN), Hong Hao, chief economist of the GROW Investment Group, a Shanghai-based hedge fund, said the tariffs reflect Trump's strategy to extract economic benefits from trading partners, particularly viewing China as a significant competitor. "Trump really believes that the trade terms with the trading partners have been unfair to the U.S., and as a result, the U.S. manufacturing sector has been hollowed out. Therefore, the U.S. is paying an excessive price for globalization, and now, it's time to pay back. I think, from this angle, he is trying to extract economic rent from its trading partners, and also he is trying to see China as one of the major U.S. rivals at this juncture. So, I think, as a result, he is playing a very dangerous game. And, as you can see, it's political theater in the sense that he is trying to dramatize the extreme pressure, so that he can get excessive rent from the opponent," he said
Trump's unilateral imposition of tariffs has eroded global confidence in the U.S. and its dollar's status, leading many to state that the American hegemony may not persist, according to Josef Gregory Mahoney, a professor of politics and international relations at East China Normal University.
"The U.S. economy is at an inflection point. There is a moment where the previous strategies being used to sustain American hegemony were no longer working. And, it's only a matter of time before the U.S. position erodes, given the fact that it's been a house of cards built on the dollar supremacy. And a lot of people don't see that as having a brighter future. This has moved past the theater stage and has moved really directly into one in which no one really has confidence in the U.S. anymore. No one has confidence in the dollar. No one has confidence in the U.S. being committed to the multilateral system, to global trade and so forth and so on," he said.
Trump playing "dangerous game" as tariff measures signal decline in U.S. dollar hegemony: economists
