GENEVA (Reuters) - World Trade Organisation members must work together to prevent the US wrecking the WTO and must oppose US tariffs targeting China's alleged theft of intellectual property, Beijing's envoy Zhang Xiangchen said on Monday (March 26).

"WTO members should jointly... lock this beast back into the cage of the WTO rules," Zhang told a meeting of the trade body, referring to a previous US commitment not to use such tariffs without first getting approval from the WTO.

"Unilateralism is fundamentally incompatible with the WTO, like fire and water. In the open sea, if the boat capsizes, no one is safe from drowning. We shouldn't stay put watching someone wrecking the boat. The WTO is under siege and all of us should lock arms to defend it."