The US isn’t ‘bullying’ China, it’s demanding the reforms Beijing promised

I refer to “‘Bullying and blackmail’: China could retaliate as US moves to curb Huawei’s business with executive order, blacklist” (May 21), where Zhang Ming, the Chinese envoy to the European Union, warns the US not to “[undermine] Chinese companies’ legitimate rights and interests”.

However, Mr Zhang must realise that Americans are fed up with China’s long-unfulfilled promises of reforms to level the playing field for overseas companies. When will China walk the talk on market reform?

It is not “bullying or blackmailing” but simply demanding long-awaited action on Chinese promises of market reciprocity. Ambassador Zhang should realise that, in his own sphere of operations in Europe, EU businessmen are also complaining that “fundamental issues driving the trade war need to be resolved by addressing market access barriers and regulatory challenges, while also tackling state-owned enterprise reform and forced technology transfer” (“EU business group urges Beijing to reform its economy”, May 21).

President Trump has shown that he is willing to smash the ball back into China’s court. If China wants to enjoy a game of trade tennis with the rest of the world, it cannot continue to assert its own “ping-pong” rules.

J.F. Kay, Lai Chi Kok