Reference Message Network reported on April 16 that according to a report from the website of El Mundo, Spain and the United States held their first high-level meeting since Trump returned to the White House on April 15. For the current Washington, the relationship with Spain is not a priority - their ideas are completely opposed. According to the US government, Spain is at most a "problematic country": it is the member state with the lowest proportion of NATO defense spending to GDP, and seems to take the lead in advocating within the EU that "closer ties with China should be established after Trump's transatlantic policy shift". Therefore, the meeting between US Treasury Secretary Scott Bechtel and Spanish Economy Minister Carlos Quiruel was timely: financial markets were in turmoil, and tariff negotiations were deadlocked.

The report said that Quiruel emphasized the importance of reaching a fair agreement with the United States, but also reiterated that "China must also become a strategic partner". After about an hour of talks at the US Treasury Building, he told reporters: "This was a very constructive and highly effective meeting, laying a good foundation for our future relations on all mutually beneficial issues, covering trade, economy, finance and other fields. Of course, we also reviewed the current situation."

Quiruel pointed out that he defended the relations between Europe and China during the talks. Meanwhile, facing the trade war, he believed that "the door to negotiation is open".

He said: "The EU position is very clear - this is not just a problem for Spain. In recent years, the EU's agenda with China has been very clear: we certainly know that China is a competitor in many fields, but it must also become a strategic partner. We must reach agreements beneficial to both sides, and there is broad space for this. At the same time, we need to continue to advance negotiations with the United States to deepen relations." (Translated by Han Chao)

On March 3, at the 2025 Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona, Spain, people visited the Xiaopeng flying car at the China Telecom exhibition area. (Xinhua News Agency)

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7493915760620847655/

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