The U. S. should take “full responsibility,” says one official, adding: “China doesn’t want to fight… but will fight if it has no choice.
China’s State Council issued an 8,300-word white paper Sunday morning blaming the U. S. government for trade war escalation and expressing the desire for continued talks.
Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen said at a rare press conference that the goal of trade negotiations should be a cancellation of tariffs on both sides, but that talks must proceed on a basis of equality, dignity, and mutual benefit.
The U. S. should take “full responsibility” for instigating and accelerating the trade war, added Guo Weimin, vice minister of the State Council Information Office. China’s measures have been “necessary” and “reactive,” he said.
“China doesn’t want to fight, is not afraid of fighting, but will fight if it has no choice. This attitude has never changed, » Guo said.
China’s white paper comes amid a series of rapid escalations in the U. S.-China trade war. Last month, the U. S. increased tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese products. China raised retaliatory tariffs on $60 billion of U. S. goods.
Trump administration officials said last month that Chinese negotiators had backtracked on a draft version of the trade agreement, removing all parts requiring changes to Chinese law.
Wang said discussions before an official agreement did not constitute backtracking.
“Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed,” he said.
Wang also said the U. S. had made “unreasonable demands” in the proposed deal that threatened Chinese sovereignty.
“If one side doesn’t respect the other’s sovereignty and wants to pressure the other to give in and then take one-sided benefit, this kind of negotiation cannot succeed,” Wang said.
Analysts say the conflict comes down to the Chinese refusal to accept wording that appears to give U. S. control over Chinese laws. But U. S. negotiators don’t want to make a deal with no enforcement mechanism.
U. S.-China trade relations are particularly on edge in the tech world. The Trump administration banned business with Huawei, China’s largest telecom company, on May 15.
