Just one day after his top diplomats held high-level talks with Beijing, US President Donald Trump on Thursday renewed his threat to cut ties with China.
Trump stated that he was responding to the comments made by his chief trade representative Robert E. Lighthizer at a congressional hearing on Wednesday, where he said that he did not consider severing the relationship between the two economies to be “a reasonable policy option at this time”. Lighthizer defended the US-China trade deal, saying that it would yield significant positive changes and lead to an increase in Beijing’s purchases of American products and services. He added though the relations between the two countries were “tense”, China had reaffirmed its commitment to live up to the terms of a “phase one” trade agreement, “in spite of COVID-19”.
Also read: Trump Threatens to “Cut Off” Ties with China
In his tweet, Trump said, “It was not Ambassador Lighthizer’s fault (yesterday in Committee) in that perhaps I didn’t make myself clear, but the U.S. certainly does maintain a policy option, under various conditions, of a complete decoupling from China. Thank you!”
This is in line with his the President’s previous calls to take serious measures against China for severely mismanaging and covering up the threat of the novel coronavirus, having stated that he had “no interest” in speaking to Chinese President Xi Jinping, and that the US could “cut off the whole relationship” with the country. Trump has said that such a move would save the country $500 billion, referring to estimated US annual imports from China, which he has previously referred to as lost money. The Trump administration has also asked for the withdrawal of billions of dollars in American pension fund investments from China, and has looked into introducing tax incentives and re-shoring subsidies to incentivize companies to shift sourcing and manufacturing away from China.
Also read: Chinese Foreign Minister Warns US Against Pushing the Two “To the Brink of a New Cold War”
Relations between the two nations continue to sour as they clash over a range of issues, including human rights, Hong Kong, and the COVID-19 pandemic. However, on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi for a private meeting in Hawaii, opening up a new diplomatic channel between the two sides.
Though exact details of the meeting remain elusive, a State Department readout said that they spoke about the need for “fully reciprocal” deals on security and trade issues, and that Pompeo stressed the need for transparency and information-sharing to fight the pandemic and prevent future outbreaks. A statement from the Chinese foreign ministry said that Yang told Pompeo that cooperation was “the only proper choice” for both countries and that China was “devoted to working together with the United States to develop a relationship with no conflict and no confrontation, of mutual respect and win-win cooperation”.
Whether this yields any positive outcome remains to be seen. On the same day as the Hawaii meeting, President Trump signed a law that would sanction Chinese officials over the mass incarceration of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in the country. The move prompted an immediate response from Beijing, who urged the US to stop “interfering in China’s internal affairs”. The Chinese foreign ministry added: “Otherwise, China will resolutely take countermeasures, and all the consequences arising therefrom must be fully borne by the United States”, but did not expand on what such countermeasures would entail.
Image Source: The New York Times