The US and China should reach a consensus and maintain communication, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) said, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday, after the two countries agreed to get a trade truce back on track.
US and Chinese officials, including He, concluded two days of negotiations in London on Tuesday to resolve key trade issues in a tariff dispute, including on a raft of export control measures that have hobbled global supply chains.
The two sides should use their consultation mechanism to further “build up consensus, reduce misunderstandings and strengthen cooperation,” He was quoted as saying by Xinhua, describing the talks as candid and in-depth.
Photo: Bloomberg
Washington and Beijing should safeguard the hard-won outcome from their dialogue, and push for stable and long-term bilateral trade and economic ties, he said.
China’s stance on trade issues with the US was clear and consistent, he said, adding that China was sincere in trade and economic consultations, but had its principles.
Beijing and Washington have, after striking a 90-day truce in Geneva, Switzerland, last month, suspended most of the triple-digit tariffs they had heaped on each other’s goods.
However, bilateral ties remain strained over unresolved trade issues such as China’s rare earth export controls and US curbs on chip-related exports.
US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, who represented the US in London, said that the new agreement would remove restrictions on Chinese exports of rare earths and magnets, and some of the recent US export restrictions “in a balanced way,” without providing further details.
The two negotiating teams would present the framework to their respective presidents for approval, Lutnick said.
Meanwhile in China, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde yesterday warned that “coercive trade policies” risked harming supply chains and the global economy, and called for a de-escalation of the tariffs standoff.
Lagarde is visiting Beijing this week for talks with local counterparts on the Chinese economy and expanding cooperation.
In a speech at the People’s Bank of China she urged all parties to find solutions “even in the face of geopolitical differences.”
Lagarde urged countries to protect the “multilateral framework” of international trade, which she said “so greatly benefited our economies.”
“Coercive trade policies are far more likely to provoke retaliation and lead to outcomes that are mutually damaging,” she added.
“All countries should examine how their structural and fiscal policies can be adjusted to reduce their own role in fueling trade tensions,” she said, calling for an end to “mutually damaging escalation of tensions.”
Protectionism risked “eroding the foundations of global prosperity,” Lagarde added.
Additional reporting by AFP
A Chinese aircraft carrier group entered Japan’s economic waters over the weekend, before exiting to conduct drills involving fighter jets, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said yesterday. The Liaoning aircraft carrier, two missile destroyers and one fast combat supply ship sailed about 300km southwest of Japan’s easternmost island of Minamitori on Saturday, a ministry statement said. It was the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier had entered that part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a ministry spokesman said. “We think the Chinese military is trying to improve its operational capability and ability to conduct operations in distant areas,” the spokesman said. China’s growing
Nine retired generals from Taiwan, Japan and the US have been invited to participate in a tabletop exercise hosted by the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science Foundation tomorrow and Wednesday that simulates a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2030, the foundation said yesterday. The five retired Taiwanese generals would include retired admiral Lee Hsi-min (李喜明), joined by retired US Navy admiral Michael Mullen and former chief of staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces general Shigeru Iwasaki, it said. The simulation aims to offer strategic insights into regional security and peace in the Taiwan Strait, it added. Foundation chair Huang Huang-hsiung
PUBLIC WARNING: The two students had been tricked into going to Hong Kong for a ‘high-paying’ job, which sent them to a scam center in Cambodia Police warned the public not to trust job advertisements touting high pay abroad following the return of two college students over the weekend who had been trafficked and forced to work at a cyberscam center in Cambodia. The two victims, surnamed Lee (李), 18, and Lin (林), 19, were interviewed by police after landing in Taiwan on Saturday. Taichung’s Chingshui Police Precinct said in a statement yesterday that the two students are good friends, and Lin had suspended her studies after seeing the ad promising good pay to work in Hong Kong. Lee’s grandfather on Thursday reported to police that Lee had sent
A Chinese ship ran aground in stormy weather in shallow waters off a Philippines-controlled island in the disputed South China Sea, prompting Filipino forces to go on alert, Philippine military officials said yesterday. When Philippine forces assessed that the Chinese fishing vessel appeared to have run aground in the shallows east of Thitu Island (Jhongye Island, 中業島) on Saturday due to bad weather, Philippine military and coast guard personnel deployed to provide help, but later saw that the ship had been extricated, Philippine navy regional spokesperson Ellaine Rose Collado said. No other details were immediately available, including if there were injuries among
RSS