China warned the United States on Thursday against further
harming trade ties after President Donald Trump effectively barred
Chinese telecom giant Huawei from the US market, escalating
tensions between the world’s top economic powerhouses.
At the same time, Beijing’s diplomatic relations with Ottawa
further soured as China formally arrested two Canadians on
suspicion of snatching state secrets in a case seen as retaliation
over Canada’s arrest of a Huawei executive on a US extradition
request.
The spat over Huawei adds to the uncertainty over efforts to
revive a deal that would end a bruising US-China trade war after
the two sides exchanged fire with tariff hikes in recent days.
The Chinese commerce ministry said Thursday it had no
information on a US plan to come to Beijing to continue talks,
after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he would likely
visit China in the near future.
“The US’s bullying and maximum pressure tactics have caused the
China-US economic and trade talks to suffer a serious setback,”
ministry spokesman Gao Feng told a weekly press briefing.
Taoran Notes, a social media account with apparent state backing
that has followed the trade talks closely, said it did not see any
“negotiating sincerity” on the US side in a post late Thursday that
was also carried by state media outlets.
“If there are no new substantive actions from the US, then
there’s no point in coming, and no point in talking,” it said.
“This being the case, it is better to stop the negotiations
completely,” said the comment, republished by official news agency
Xinhua.
Trump stepped up the US battle against Huawei on Wednesday when
he signed an executive order prohibiting the purchase or use of
equipment from companies that pose “an unacceptable risk to the
national security of the United States” or the safety of the
American people.
While the White House insisted that no particular country or
company was targeted, Huawei is likely to be hit by the move amid
concerns that its equipment could be used by Chinese intelligence
services.
The US Commerce Department followed up with a more direct hit on
the tech giant, adding it to a blacklist that will make it much
harder for the firm to use crucial US components in its array of
phones, telecom gear, databases and other electronics.
“We urge the US to stop its incorrect actions… to avoid doing
additional harm to China-US economic and trade relations,” Gao
said.
“China has said many times national security issues should not
be abused.”
(AFP)
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