Top Chinese diplomat calls Trump’s China policy ‘utter failure’, says US must repair relations with Beijing
- Le Yucheng, vice-minister of foreign affairs, takes aim at the Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic
- Le also says Washington and Beijing can use Covid-19 and climate change as ‘priority areas’ for cooperation
China’s vice-minister of foreign affairs, Le Yucheng, called Thursday for Washington to take immediate action to repair its relations with Beijing, while assailing the now-departed Trump administration for pursuing a China policy that proved to be an “utter failure”.
Speaking in English, Le said on Thursday during a panel organised by the state-run media outlet China Daily that the two superpowers’ relationship should not be defined by “competition”.
He also criticised former US president Donald Trump and his administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which he said brought about the “worst setback in the past 40 years” for the two countries’ relations.
“Had the Trump administration chosen science and cooperation over scapegoating and political games, how many lives could have been saved?” Le said.
“Misguided China policy over the past four years has proven to be an utter failure.”
