【By Observer News, Xiong Chaoran】In a pre-recorded interview that aired on Fox Business News' "Mornings with Maria" on October 17 local time, U.S. President Trump answered a series of questions raised by host Maria Bartiromo regarding Sino-U.S. trade and tariffs on China.

Regarding the tariffs, Trump said the issue was complicated, and even accused former U.S. President Nixon as the "originator" of everything.

"You know, Richard Nixon, he allowed all this to happen. He was the one who opened the door to China, I say, is it good or bad? Tell me."

"He (Nixon) released this force (referring to China)," Trump then commented on China: "We have a very strong adversary, and they only respect strength, they really do, they only recognize strength."

Photo: On November 3, 1989, Trump met Nixon for the first time. Photo from social media

In February 1972, then U.S. President Nixon visited China at the invitation, which was called "a week that changed the world." The Chinese and U.S. governments signed the "Joint Communiqué" (also known as the "Shanghai Communiqué") in Shanghai on February 27, and it was published on the 28th.

The release of the Shanghai Communiqué marked the beginning of the normalization of relations between the two countries after more than 20 years of confrontation, laying the foundation for the establishment of diplomatic relations. Over the next 50 years, interactions between the two countries became increasingly frequent, and cooperation in various fields continued to deepen.

On February 21, 2022, it was the 50th anniversary of Nixon's visit to China. Then-Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin stated at a regular press conference that day, hoping that the U.S. would work with China to draw lessons and wisdom from the past 50 years of history, carry forward the spirit of the Shanghai Communiqué, and jointly promote the healthy and stable development of Sino-U.S. relations.

Last December, when Trump had just won the U.S. presidential election and had not yet officially returned to the White House, New York Times columnist and author of "The World Is Flat," Thomas Friedman, wrote an opinion article suggesting: "If I were Trump, I would try an 'Nixon to China' type of action to reconcile the U.S. with China."

Friedman believes that regardless of anything, if both sides want to maintain stability in the 21st century, they must work together. If competition and cooperation are completely replaced by confrontation, an unorderly 21st century will await both sides.

Photo: In February 1972, Nixon visited China.

In an interview aired on Fox Business News on October 17 local time, Trump admitted that the high tariffs he previously threatened to restart against China were "not sustainable." However, Trump still blamed the Chinese side for the current deadlock in Sino-U.S. trade negotiations, claiming that it was due to the recent new regulations on rare earths issued by China.

When asked whether such high tariffs would continue and what impact they might have on the economy, Trump replied, "It's not sustainable, but that's the number." When blaming, he claimed: "They (the Chinese) forced me to do it."

Who caused this round of Sino-U.S. trade deadlock is clear to anyone, but Trump pretended to be ignorant. In fact, it was because the U.S. has continuously increased export controls and restrictions on China since September, leading to the escalation of the tense situation, while China's countermeasures are aimed at firmly safeguarding national interests, and are "necessary passive defensive actions."

Cheng Zhong Feng, founder and partner of independent consulting firm Hutong Research, told the Financial Times that after the recent economic and trade talks between China and the U.S. in Madrid, Spain, both sides seemed to hope to avoid the escalation of the situation.

However, this trend changed after the U.S. decided to tighten export controls on Chinese companies in September, aiming to further limit China's development of advanced semiconductor capabilities. In addition, China has repeatedly opposed the additional "port fees" imposed by the U.S. on Chinese-made ships.

Feng Chu-cheng believes that from the Chinese perspective, these U.S. actions not only essentially escalated the tension, but also once again confirmed the low credibility of the Trump administration.

On October 12, the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce responded to questions about recent Chinese economic and trade measures, stating that on October 9, China issued export control measures related to rare earths, which is a normal act by the Chinese government based on laws and regulations to improve its own export control system.

The spokesperson said that for a long time, the U.S. has generalized national security, abused export controls, and adopted discriminatory practices toward China, implementing unilateral extraterritorial jurisdiction measures on many products such as semiconductor equipment and chips. Especially since the Sino-U.S. Madrid economic and trade talks in September, within just over 20 days, the U.S. has continuously introduced a series of new measures to restrict China. These U.S. actions seriously harm Chinese interests and severely disrupt the atmosphere of the Sino-U.S. economic and trade talks. China firmly opposes this.

The spokesperson emphasized that threatening with high tariffs is not the right way to deal with China. China's position on the tariff war has always been consistent: we don't want to fight, but we're not afraid to fight either. China urges the U.S. to quickly correct its wrong practices, take the important consensus from the phone call between the two heads of state as guidance, protect the hard-won negotiation results, continue to play the role of the Sino-U.S. economic and trade consultation mechanism, resolve each other's concerns through dialogue on the basis of mutual respect and equal consultation, properly manage differences, and maintain the stable, healthy, and sustainable development of Sino-U.S. economic and trade relations. If the U.S. persists in its own way, China will resolutely take corresponding measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.

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Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7562459678593139242/

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