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https://scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3025634/chinas-top-negotiator-liu-he-urges-us-senators-deepen-mutual Diplomacy
China’s top negotiator Liu He urges 2 US senators to ‘deepen mutual understanding’ to resolve trade war
- Two Republican lawmakers meet with the vice-premier and China’s top legislator Li Zhanshu, while trade talks remain on hold
- No sign of whether anti-government protests in Hong Kong were discussed
Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He (centre) meets US Senators David Perdue (left) and Steve Daines on Tuesday. Photo: Xinhua
Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He has called for two visiting American lawmakers to “deepen mutual understanding”, saying the year-long trade war was bad for both China and the US.
The meeting between two Republican Senators Steve Daines and David Perdue and Liu, China’s top negotiator in trade talks between the countries, followed news that efforts to resume discussions this month may be faltering.
The US imposed tariffs on imports of roughly US$110 billion in Chinese goods on Sunday, the latest escalation in the dispute. US and Chinese officials were reportedly having difficulty scheduling a time to meet after Washington rebuffed Beijing’s demands to hold off on imposing the weekend’s latest round of tariff increases, according to Bloomberg.
The senators also met China’s top legislator Li Zhanshu, who called on US lawmakers to handle the “differences and sensitive issues” between the two countries constructively.
In the meeting on Tuesday, Liu was quoted by state news agency Xinhua as saying that “China firmly opposes the trade war, which is not conducive to China, the United States nor the world”.
He expressed a hope that the two sides could deepen mutual understanding, seek common ground and properly resolve problems on the basis of equality and mutual respect.
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Beijing had requested the meeting, which he said he had personally “approved”.
“They absolutely had my permission, and they also spoke to [United States Trade Representative Robert] Lighthizer and [Treasury Secretary Steven] Mnuchin about the trip before they went there,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, adding that Perdue and Daines had delivered a message to Beijing that the US was “not playing games”.
Trump said he had been told by the two lawmakers after the trip that “China would like to do something”.
“We’ll see if we can do a real deal, not a fake deal,” Trump said.
Trump has said that Beijing’s response to the Hong Kong protests had been more restrained than it would otherwise have been because China did not want to jeopardise trade talks.
Earlier this week, Trump returned to a theme he has pushed previously, warning Beijing not to drag its feet in trade negotiations in the hope of getting a better deal with a different president after next year’s election.
“While I am sure they would love to be dealing with a new administration … 16 months plus is a long time to be hemorrhaging jobs and companies,” Trump said on Tuesday on Twitter. “And then, think what happens to China when I win. Deal would get much tougher!”
While meeting Daines and Perdue on Monday in Beijing, Li said the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s largely rubber-stamp legislature, was ready to work with the US Congress to enhance cooperation and handle sensitive issues through dialogue, Xinhua reported.
The Chinese foreign ministry said it had no further information to disclose about the senators’ meetings with Liu and Li. The NPC’s press office also said it had no additional information to provide and declined to comment on whether Hong Kong was discussed.
Daines and Perdue were among a bipartisan group of four lawmakers who met Hong Kong lawmakers and officials in the US late last month to discuss the Hong Kong protests, with some of the discussion focusing on the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which is pending in Congress.
Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, chairwoman of the New People’s Party, and Felix Chung Kwok-pan, leader of the Liberal Party, said the US lawmakers had expressed hope that Hong Kong would solve its political crisis without Beijing’s interference.
Wang Yong, director of the Centre for International Political Economy at Peking University, said the senators’ visit had come at a crucial time amid the Trump administration’s escalation of the trade war.
“These US senators have been advocates of closer China-US relations and they have established close ties with China. They came to China representing the interests of the their states, and it’s clear that they don’t want the trade war to drag on,” Wang said.
“So their visit is very important because they will play an important role in the Congress at a time when both [Democratic and Republican] parties are pushing for a tougher stance against China.”
Wang also said it was highly likely that the senators discussed the situation in Hong Kong with the Chinese leaders in Beijing, including the pending Hong Kong bill introduced by US lawmakers.
“There are some radical forces from Hong Kong who have been pushing for the US to pass the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, but this bill will add even more tension to China-US relations and will make it even more difficult for the two sides to reach a trade deal,” Wang said.
“So these senators wanted to understand China’s bottom line on Hong Kong from authoritative voices, to relay the message back to the US and hopefully convince other lawmakers in easing their concern and pressure [against China] over Hong Kong.”