Lost in translation? How verbal mishaps and lack of Chinese-language document threaten US-China trade deal

“Misconceptions” may have put more distance between China and the United States in their efforts to reach a deal to end their trade war, according to Michael Pillsbury, an outside adviser to US President Donald Trump.

Pillsbury, who Trump has called “the leading authority on China”, said misinterpretations about the most recent talks and the lack of a formal Chinese-language version of what the US side was asking for were bigger obstacles than an enforcement mechanism to ensure Beijing carried out its commitments.

The director of the Centre for Chinese Strategy at the Washington-based Hudson Institute think tank, Pillsbury spoke on the sidelines of a Council on Foreign Relations event in the US capital.