China must develop its own technologies in wake of US block
President Xi Jinping has called on top scientists and engineers to turn the country into a world hi-tech leader and, as a result of White House actions, the nation has no other choice
President Donald Trump’s unpredictability has made President Xi Jinping look rather prescient.
A day after this newspaper reported a rallying cry from Xi to the nation’s top scientists and engineers to turn China into a world hi-tech leader, the White House gave it immediate context by announcing that Trump would reveal restrictions on investments by Chinese entities to halt the transfer of “industrially significant” technologies, and enhanced export controls on technology aimed at China, by June 30.
The actions, based on recommendations of the Office of the US Trade Representative, are part of an effort to force Beijing to grant American companies easier access to its markets and balance the bilateral trade relationship.
But they are far from being part of a coherent chain of events following on two rounds of high-level negotiations between the two countries aimed at heading off a threatened trade war.
After the latest round, in which Vice-Premier Liu He led a delegation to Washington, a joint statement proclaimed a consensus on measures to reduce the trade imbalance. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the Trump administration had put on hold its plan for punitive trade tariffs against China while the two parties tried to implement the framework agreement.