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Catherine Wong

China has promised to retaliate against the United States if Washington imposes additional tariffs on its products on September 1.
A brief statement released by the State Council’s customs tariff commission on Thursday said China would have no alternative but to take countermeasures.
It said the threat to impose 10 per cent tariffs on US$300 billion of Chinese imports ran against the consensus reached by US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping when they met in Japan in late June.
The warning came after Trump appeared to link the outlook for trade talks with China to a resolution of the Hong Kong protests and suggested another meeting with Xi.

..deferral to December. It actually helps China more than us, but will be reciprocated. Millions of jobs are being lost in China to other non-Tariffed countries. Thousands of companies are leaving. Of course China wants to make a deal. Let them work humanely with Hong Kong first!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 14, 2019

Chinese diplomatic observers said the situation in Hong Kong might have given Trump fresh leverage over Beijing, but the chances of Xi agreeing to meet him remained slim.
Washington has already said it will delay imposing tariffs on around half the products targeted by the latest levy – consisting of laptops, phones and other consumer goods – until December 15.
But on Wednesday night in a series of tweets, Trump weighed in on the protests in Hong Kong, for the first time appearing to link a resolution of the dispute with the trade talks.




Beijing has described recent violence as showing “signs of terrorism” and has gathered paramilitary forces near the border of the city.
In the tweets, Trump called for Beijing to handle the situation “humanely” and for the first time appeared to link the outlook for trade talks with China with a resolution of the Hong Kong protests.
China’s July home prices cool, as trade war, slower growth chill sales
Trump claimed in his tweets that China was “eating” the tariffs through currency devaluation but said Beijing would still be keen to make a deal because “millions” of jobs were being lost to non-tariffed countries and thousands of companies were leaving.
“Of course China wants to make a deal. Let them work humanely with Hong Kong first!” he said.
“I have ZERO doubt that if President Xi wants to quickly and humanely solve the Hong Kong problem, he can do it. Personal meeting?”

I know President Xi of China very well. He is a great leader who very much has the respect of his people. He is also a good man in a “tough business.” I have ZERO doubt that if President Xi wants to quickly and humanely solve the Hong Kong problem, he can do it. Personal meeting?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 14, 2019

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying later repeated Beijing’s line that Hong Kong was an internal matter, and referred to earlier comments by Trump in which he said: “That’s between Hong Kong and that’s between China, because Hong Kong is part of China”.
“I hope the US can really do what it has said,” Hua said in a statement.
Chinese observers also said Beijing was unlikely to agree to a meeting that they saw as no more than Trump seeking to gain an advantage.
“Trump is much more eager to end the trade war as soon as possible now with the falling US stock markets and he wants to use Hong Kong as his new card to bargain with President Xi,” said Wu Xinbo, director at the centre for American studies at Fudan University.




Shi Yinhong, director of the Centre of American Studies at Renmin University, said: “It is absolutely impossible that Xi would meet Trump over Hong Kong. China’s fundamental position is that Hong Kong is it own internal affair, so agreeing to that would discredit its stance.”
Shi added that Trump had so far shown little interest in Hong Kong issues, and only expressed concern about Hong Kong due to growing pressure at home. “Linking Hong Kong to trade talks is only an excuse for the stalled trade talks,” he said.

Since the first wave of mass protests started in the city in June, China has frequently accused the US of being behind the unrest, with state media even going so far as to target the family of an American diplomat who met student leaders.
Pang Zhongying, an international relations researcher at Ocean University of China, also said it was unlikely that China would consider a meeting between Trump and Xi given the state of the trade talks.
China sees ‘positive signal’ in Donald Trump’s US trade war tariff delay
On Tuesday China’s lead negotiator, Vice-Premier Liu He, had a phone conversation with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin where, Beijing said, it made “stern representations” about the latest proposed tariffs.




On Wednesday, the US added four Chinese nuclear entities to a trade blacklist, accusing them of helping to acquire advanced technology for military use.
“These things do not seem to create [the right] conditions for the meeting,” Pang said, adding that it was unlikely to produce any meaningful outcome.
“China right now probably needs to assess what Trump is really thinking and why he would suggest a meeting. He seems to bundle trade talks and the situation in Hong Kong together.
“But Trump had previously acknowledged Hong Kong was an internal Chinese affair. So we need to assess what Trump is really thinking.”


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US-China trade war

China vows to retaliate if US goes ahead with tariff threat as Donald Trump links Hong Kong unrest to future of trade talks

Donald Trump and Xi Jinping last met in Japan at the end of June. Photo: AP

TOPSHOT - Pro-democracy protestors block the entrance to the airport terminals after a scuffle with police at Hong Kong's international airport late on August 13, 2019. - Hundreds of flights were cancelled or suspended at Hong Kong's airport on August 13, 2019 as pro-democracy protesters staged a second disruptive sit-in at the sprawling complex, defying warnings from the city's leader who said they were heading down a "path of no return". The new protest came as Beijing sent further ominous signals that the 10 weeks of unrest must end, with state-run media showing videos of security forces gathering across the border. (Photo by Manan VATSYAYANA / AFP)

US-China trade war takes a breather as Beijing sees ‘positive signal’ in Donald Trump’s tariff delay

Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He spoke with US trade representative Robert Lighthizer (left) and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

Vice-Premier Liu He (right), US trade representative Robert Lighthizer (third left) and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin (second left) agreed in Shanghai at the end of July that they would hold the next face-to-face meeting in Washington in September. Photo: AP

Donald Trump comments on ‘tricky’ Hong Kong situation

US President Donald Trump says he hopes the crisis in Hong Kong will be settled without casualties. Photo: AFP

epa07772211 A handout satellite image made available by Maxar Technologies shows military and security vehicles parked in the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center, in Shenzhen, China, 12 August 2019 (issued 14 August 2019). According to media reports, military and security vehicles from the People's Armed Police have gathered in Shenzhen, a city in southeastern China which borders Hong Kong. The special administrative region of Hong Kong has been gripped for weeks by mass protests, which began in June 2019 over a now-suspended extradition bill and have developed into an anti-government movement. EPA-EFE/SATELLITE IMAGE ©2019 MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES / HANDOUT MANDATORY CREDIT: SATELLITE IMAGE ©2019 MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES - The watermark may not be removed/cropped HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

US to delay or remove some tariffs against China planned for September 1

From left, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in Shanghai on July 31. Photo: Reuters

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump meets with China's President Xi Jinping at the start of their bilateral meeting at the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

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China

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Xi Jinping is seen as unlikely to take up US president’s suggestion they meet to discuss ‘humane’ solution to protests
Observers suggest Beijing believes Trump only raised protests in city as effort to gain more leverage over China in the trade talks



Xi Jinping is seen as unlikely to take up US president’s suggestion they meet to discuss ‘humane’ solution to protests.
