‘US PUTTING A KNIFE TO CHINA’S NECK’

BEIJING — A senior Chinese official said on Tuesday it is difficult to proceed with trade talks with the United States while Washington is putting “a knife to China’s neck”, a day after both sides heaped fresh tariffs on each other’s goods.

When the talks can restart would depend on the “will” of the United States, Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen said at a news conference in Beijing. US tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods and retaliatory taxes by Beijing on $60 billion worth of US products including LNG kicked in on Monday, unnerving global financial markets.

“Now that the US has adopted such a huge trade restriction measure ... how can the negotiations proceed? It’s not an equal negotiation,” Wang said, stressing the US has abandoned its mutual understanding with China.

The Chinese government’s top diplomat also said in New York that talks could not take place against the backdrop of “threats and pressure”, the Foreign Ministry said.

Certain forces in the United States have been making groundless criticisms against China about trade and security issues, which has poisoned the atmosphere for Sino-US ties and is highly irresponsible, State Councillor Wang Yi was quoted as saying.