China says Donald Trump’s attempts to use Hong Kong as ‘bargaining chip’ in US trade talks will fail
- Commentary on state broadcaster says US president contradicted himself in latest remarks and that trade issues should not be politicised
- Donald Trump on Friday claimed China’s response to anti-government protests had been restrained because it didn’t want to jeopardise trade talks
China on Saturday said attempts from the United States to use Hong Kong as a “bargaining chip” would fail, after American President Donald Trump claimed Beijing’s response to anti-government protests in the city had been restrained because it did not want to jeopardise the trade talks.
A commentary on state broadcaster CCTV said Trump had contradicted himself in his remarks on Friday after earlier saying Hong Kong was part of China and the protests were an internal matter for Beijing.
“When the trade negotiations between China and the US are going smoothly, the American [president] says they are not going to interfere in China’s internal affairs. But [he] then links the Hong Kong issue with the China-US trade talks when tensions arise,” the commentary said.
“This kind of swinging and contradiction simply tells us that [Trump] does not truly care about whether Hong Kong is in chaos or in good shape. He just uses Hong Kong as a bargaining chip to put pressure on China in the trade negotiations.”
It added that economic and trade issues should not be politicised and attempts to use Hong Kong as a bargaining chip would be in vain.