China on Wednesday blamed US’ flip-flop attitude and lack of sincerity in reaching a trade deal as the 12th round of talks between
top trade officials of the two countries ended without a breakthrough in
Shanghai after US President Donald Trump’s twitter tirade against
Beijing.To get more
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Since the commencement of trade war last year China and US have so far
hit each other with punitive tariffs covering more than $360 billion in
two-way trade.
Trump kicked off the trade war demanding China to reduce massive trade
deficit which last year climbed to over$ 539 billion. He is also
insisting on China to workout verifiable measures for protection of
intellectual property rights (IPR) technology transfer and more access
to American goods to Chinese markets.
The talks between top trade negotiators from China and US, the first
after they broke down in May, lasted just half a day and ended with no
sign of a breakthrough, but a willingness to continue discussions.
The talks were held in Shanghai unlike the previous rounds which took
place in Beijing and Washington. The abrupt end of talks sparked
speculation that a trade deal was unlikely before the 2020 US
presidential elections.
US trade representative Robert Lighthizer and treasury secretary Steven
Mnuchin took part in the talks with a Chinese delegation headed by Vice
Premier Liu He. The talks were relatively brief and the US officials
left for the airport without speaking to reporters.
While China has not officially commented on the outcome of the
talks,foreign ministry spokesman Hua Chunying in her media briefing in
Beijing hit back at Trump’s barrage of tweets against China.
Seen as an attempt to increase pressure on China, Trump tweeted on
Tuesday saying his team is “negotiating with them now, but they always
change the deal in the end to their benefit….”
Trump said China was supposed to start buying US agricultural products but they have shown “no signs that they are doing so”.
“That is the problem with China, they just don’t come through,” he tweeted.
Trump said that China is waiting for the next presidential elections and
hopes that he will be defeated and then they can talk with his next
Democratic successor. He warned that if he wins re-election in the
November 2020 US presidential contest, the outcome could be no agreement
or a worse one.
Reacting to Trump’s tweets, Hua said, “the US is the one that has
flip-flopped in the whole process. It doesn’t make any sense for the US
to exert pressure for maximum campaign. I believe the US should show
more sincerity and good faith.”
She also reacted sharply to Trump’s comments that the Chinese economy is doing badly.
“You say Chinese economy is not that good. It is obvious fact that
China’s GDP in the second quarter is 6.2 per cent. The US GDP is lower
(2.1 per cent). Who is better is very obvious fact. I believe the
exercise of maximum pressure is not constructive at all. What matters is
that we have to show sincerity, mutual respect and good faith to
resolve our differences and concerns. I believe this makes the only
right way forward,” she said.
Commenting on the US ban on Huawei, she also took pot-shots at Trump
saying that US business suppliers are now anxious to do business with
the Chinese telecom giant which on Tuesday announced an increase of 23.2
per cent revenue year-on-year to $58.3 billion in the first half of
this year.
“Increasing number of US business hope they can supply parts to Huawei.
So I believe it is the American business that are the more anxious about
it. We have full confidence in Huawei and it is the US that is most
worried,” she said.
The US has banned Huawei, the world’s leader in telecom equipment and
the number two smartphone producer, over concerns of security and
Washington has been pressuring other countries to restrict the
operations of the Chinese telecom firm.
Reacting to abrupt end to the 12th round of trade talks, observers said
China seems to be watching the US presidential race with interest, to
see how it will affect trade policy.
“China has started to buy soybeans from the US, which could help Trump
to counter domestic political pressure, meanwhile US tech firms have
raised their voices to lobby the US administration to loosen export
controls on Huawei,” said Wang Yong, a professor of international
relations with Peking University.
