China does not want trade war: envoy

▶ Ambassador makes spirited defense of policies in Fox News interview

Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai reiterated Sunday that China does not want a trade war with any country, amid escalating trade frictions between the world’s top-two economies.

“Whatever we are doing in terms of tariffs, is just a response to the tariffs the US side has imposed on us,” Cui said in an interview with Fox News Sunday. “If the US side could remove all the tariffs, we will drop all the tariffs.”

The US has imposed tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods while China has responded with tariffs on $110 billion of US exports.

“We do not want to have any trade war with any other countries, including the United States ... But if somebody started a trade war against us, we have to respond and defend our own interests,” Cui said. “It is important to notice who started this trade war.”

Cui also said the Trump administration has sent many confusing signals and other ambassadors in the US agree.

“I’ve been talking to ambassadors of other countries in Washington, DC. This is also part of their problem,” Cui said.

“They don’t know who is the final decision-maker. Of course, presumably the President [Donald Trump] will take the final decision. But who is playing what role? Sometimes it could be very confusing.”

Allegations levied against China for what some have said is meddling in the US midterm elections, and an incident involving two navy ships of the two countries in the South China Sea have fueled the rift.

“I think we have to be clear where the incident took place … It was in the South China Sea, it is at China’s doorstep,” Cui said, noting the Chinese vessel was sailing in its home sea, while the US vessel traveled thousands of kilometers to the South China Sea with the sole purpose of agitating China under the guise of “freedom of navigation.”

The Chinese navy ship Lanzhou conducted an identification and warning action to drive the USS Decatur destroyer away from the South China Sea, a day before China’s National Day.

Speaking of the US’ potential arms sales to Taiwan, Cui said it is a “very good example of American intervention into Chinese internal affairs.”

Although the two countries are having an icy relation lately, Cui said China is willing to talk, pointing to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to Beijing earlier this month.

“The talks in Beijing were very good communication at such high level between the two sides, and it’s very timely,” Cui said.

Cui also shrugged off accusations that China was trying to steal secrets from US hightech companies, saying they are “groundless.”

“China has 1.4 billion people. It would be hard to imagine that one-fifth of the global population could develop and prosper, not by relying mainly on their own efforts, but by stealing or forcing some transfer of technology from others,” he said. “That’s impossible. The Chinese people are as hard-working and diligent as anybody on earth.”