China does not want a trade war with the United States but will retaliate against any further U.S. restrictions on technology and trade, the Chinese ambassador to the U.S. said.
Ambassador Xie Feng criticized U.S. curbs on the sale of microchips and chipmaking equipment to China that were imposed last year by the Biden administration. Beijing has described the measure as part of an effort to 鈥渃ontain鈥 China.
鈥淐hina does not shy away from competition, but the definition of competition by the U.S. side I think is not fair,鈥 Xie said Wednesday at the Aspen Security Forum, a security and foreign policy conference in Aspen, Colorado. 鈥淭he United States is trying to win by keeping China out,鈥 he said, referring to measures to curb U.S. technology sales to Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei over security concerns.
鈥淭his is like restricting the other side to wear outdated swimwear in a swimming contest while you yourself (are) wearing a Speedo,鈥 he said.
China earlier this month imposed export curbs on two key metals used in computer chips and solar cells, a measure widely seen as retaliation for the U.S. restrictions on microchips. Earlier this year, Beijing restricted sales of products from Micron Inc., the biggest U.S. producer of memory chips.
鈥淒efinitely it鈥檚 not our hope to have a tit for tat,鈥 Xie said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want a trade war, technological war. We want to say goodbye to the Iron Curtain, as well as the Silicon Curtain.鈥
Xie鈥檚 comments come as Washington and Beijing are trying to patch up their relationship, which has hit new lows in recent months over a slew of issues including a suspected Chinese spy balloon that flew over U.S. territory and tensions over trade, technology, human rights and China鈥檚 claim to Taiwan and much of the South China Sea.
As part of efforts to mend ties, three top U.S. officials visited Beijing in recent weeks. John Kerry, the U.S. special envoy on climate, on ways to combat climate change and restore high-level cooperation between the two countries.
He was preceded earlier this month by . Last month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to China on a between the two countries and reviving stalled talks between their militaries.
Xie said China is 鈥渆ager鈥 to have a 鈥渟table, healthy relationship鈥 with the U.S.
He said immediate 鈥渃oncrete鈥 improvements could include increasing the number of passenger flights between China and the U.S. 鈥 which were heavily curtailed during the pandemic 鈥 and renewing the countries鈥 cooperation agreement on science and technology.
On the issue of the Ukraine war, Xie reiterated Chinese officials鈥 talking points that Beijing respects countries鈥 sovereignty and territorial integrity but also acknowledges 鈥渓egitimate and reasonable security concerns.鈥 China bills itself as neutral in the conflict, but in practice by organizing frequent state visits and joint military drills with Moscow.
On the issue of self-ruled Taiwan, which China considers a breakaway province, Xie said the 鈥減riority鈥 is to stop the upcoming trip to the U.S. of Taiwanese vice president and presidential front-runner William Lai.
The visit, expected as part of a trip next month by Lai to Latin America, is like a 鈥済ray rhino charging at us,鈥 Xie said.
China opposes any formal exchanges between its diplomatic partners and Taiwan and has reacted angrily to such visits in the past. In April, around Taiwan after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met with U.S. officials in Los Angeles while on her way back from Central America.
The director of the U.S. de facto embassy in Taiwan, Sandra Oudkirk, said Wednesday there is 鈥渁bsolutely no reason鈥 for China to use Lai鈥檚 transit 鈥渁s a pretext for any sort of provocative action.鈥
