China Blames Trump Regime for Failed Trade Talks

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

Time and again, the US doesn't negotiate. It demands. Rare exceptions prove the rule.

Most often when reaching agreements with other nations, reneging follows — Trump's pullout from the JCPOA nuclear deal and INF Treaty the latest examples.

It's why both extremist right wings of the US war party can never be trusted, wanting their demands met in return for empty promises, why summit talks with North Korea failed, why trade talks with China fared little better.

A newly released white paper by Beijing's State Council Information Office titled "China's Position on the China-US Economic and Trade Consultations" said the Trump regime is "solely to blame" for failed trade talks since begun last year. 

Eleven rounds of talks left major issues unresolved because of unacceptable US demands no responsible leadership should accept.

At a Sunday press conference, China's Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen accused the Trump regime of "irresponsible" behavior for falsely accusing Beijing of backtracking on promises made.

"Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed," he stressed. According to Beijing's new white paper, its ruling authorities are committed to credible consultations based on equality and mutual benefit, adding:

No "ground (will be given) on matters of principle." Over the past year, the US side reneged on what was mutually agreed on, showing consistent bad faith, its standard practice, reflecting imperial hubris and arrogance.

After Chinese negotiators believed most issues were resolved, the white paper said "the more the US government is offered, the more it wants," adding:

Its tactics include intimidation, coercion, unacceptable demands, and insistence on keeping tariffs on Chinese imports in place until it gets its way on all issues.

According to Beijing Economic Operation Association vice president Tian Yun, "(t)he public has had its different version of the impacts of the trade war and what is going on in the trade talks," adding:

"The white paper can clear the misunderstanding in the speculation and has stated the open, sincere and cooperative attitude of the Chinese government" — unlike how the US side negotiates.

Further talks depend on the Trump regime walking back on its hostile actions, including on unacceptable tariffs, blacklisting Huawei, and pressuring other countries to do the same thing.

"China will not bow under pressure and will rise to any challenge coming its way," the white paper stressed, adding: "China is open to negotiation, but will also fight to the end if needed."

If hardline US tactics continue, tough Beijing countermeasures will follow. On Sunday, former Chinese officials accused the US of wanting to undermine the country's national security economically, on trade, and militarily, the latter point referring to differences over Taiwan and Beijing's defense posture in the South China Sea.

Bilateral differences can only be resolved if the US respects China's sovereign rights on all issues — what it consistently fails to do in dealings with all countries, allies and adversaries alike.

As for the growing US trade deficit with China, corporate America is to blame for offshoring millions of industrial and other jobs to low-wage countries — acquiesced to by Republicans and Dems alike.

Beijing and other low-wage countries are falsely blamed for longstanding US policy — transforming America into a third world nation for the majority of its people, struggling to get by on rotten jobs, paying poverty wages with few or no benefits.

The world's richest country doesn't give a damn about its ordinary people, serving its privileged class exclusively. 

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