World has only one shield against global trade war 

This column merits praise not only for clarifying China’s position on the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, but also outlining the role of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in liberalising commerce at the global level.
Indeed, the WTO is the only global institution  dealing with the rules of trade between nations, with 98 per cent of commerce taking place under the WTO rulebook under which its 164 member states can avoid protectionism and promote free trade at the planetary level.
Hundreds of free-trade agreements have been signed during the past two decades. This practice has been spurred by, among other things, the failure of the Doha Development Agenda negotiations (Doha Round trade talks). 
The Doha Round’s success would have delivered estimated gains of $360 billion and represented one of the biggest ever leaps in trade liberalisation and in multilateral diplomacy. 
But its collapse generated a dangerous fragmentation of the multilateral trading system, compromising the mission of the WTO at a crucial time of irreversible globalisation.
To overcome this crisis, all 164 WTO member states should renew their positive political will and determination to work toward mutually acceptable and just solutions in their complex trade negotiations.
Discrediting the WTO would be detrimental to the future of multilateral trade and invites a repetition of the trade war of the 1930s, with serious negative consequences for the world community of nations. 
Ioan Voicu
Bangkok