China, US to hold economic, trade talks soon

Ambassador says Beijing ready to work for solutions to problems 'anytime, anywhere'

China and the United States have agreed to hold talks "in the coming days" on economic and trade issues, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday, after reports that planned high-level talks on their phase-one trade deal were postponed.

Ministry spokesman Gao Feng made the remarks at a weekly briefing when answering a question about when the two sides would hold trade talks to evaluate progress made six months after the agreement was reached in January. But he did not elaborate.

Experts and business leaders said the two sides are likely to discuss how they might resolve trade and investment barriers in the next stage and how the phase-one trade deal has been implemented so far. They are also eager to see improvement of economic and trade ties that will benefit companies on both sides.

"The high-level official talks are helpful to relieve distrust between the two countries," said Zhang Yongjun, a researcher at the Beijing-based China Center for International Economic Exchanges.

Meanwhile, as the Democratic and Republican candidates make their final dash for the presidency of the United States, Beijing's top envoy in Washington said China would not "waste time" waiting for the outcome of the election, but stands ready to work with the current administration to resolve problems straining bilateral relations.

"Maybe some people believe that China is just waiting for the result of the US presidential election in November. Let me make it very clear here: We are not waiting for anything, and we are never willing to waste time in waiting," Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai said.

The remarks, made during a webinar with US scholars and former US government officials at the Brookings Institution a week ago, were released by the Chinese embassy on Wednesday.

Fewer than 80 days before the election, the Democrats have nominated former vice-president Joe Biden to attempt to deny President Donald Trump another four years in the White House.

There have been conflicting reports about which candidate China may support, though Beijing has repeatedly said it has no interest in other nations' domestic affairs.

The presidential campaigns have also tied bilateral relations to the election, with each side attempting to position itself as tougher than the other on China.

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro has claimed that China is waiting until the November election for further action on the trade talks.

Navarro told reporters on Wednesday that China is now "betting, putting their bet behind Joe Biden, and they're going to wait until after the election for any future negotiations; that's very clear that's what their strategy is".

Cui said US domestic dynamics are "well beyond what we can predict or influence".

"We have no intention or interest to get involved," Cui said. "We are ready to work with the current administration to search for solutions to existing problems anytime, anywhere, even today or tomorrow."

Tensions between the two countries have run high this year, with some US hawks promoting an alternative view of bilateral relations－that engagement was a mistake, and they are obsessed with great-power competition and strategic rivalry.

"Alarmingly, there are attempts now to negate what has been built up so painstakingly by generations of Chinese and Americans over the decades and to deliberately push our two countries into conflict and confrontation," Cui said, adding, "I hope people will not try to negate all this and let the relationship go down a very dangerous path."

The Chinese ambassador said none of the major international crises in the 21st century－the Sept 11,2001, terrorist attacks, the global financial crisis of 2008, and the cur-rent COVID-19 pandemic－could be resolved with the toolbox of great-power competition, as they are all of a strategic nature.

"It is natural for major countries to have differences and even competition, but they do not justify confrontation," Cui said. "Stigmatization will not make anybody great. Ideological crusades will not solve any problem in today's world and are doomed to fail."

He warned that it is "nothing but wishful thinking" to believe that stoking confrontation could slow down and contain China's development and even bring about regime change, as history has proved repeatedly that external pressure will only make China stronger and lead to the greater unity of its people.

For those who like the term "Cold War" and those bolstered by their victory in the Cold War, Cui cautioned that they should not forget the price the world paid for it over four decades.

In particular, he pointed out that the US and other countries paid bitter costs in the Korean War and the Vietnam War, fought during the Cold War.

"If the negative trend of China-US relations is allowed to continue, China might have to face more difficulties and challenges. But the initiators of the so-called New Cold War must weigh the costs they have to pay and the consequences for the world," he said. "For whom the bell tolls, there will be a day of reckoning."

Zhong Nan in Beijing contributed to this story.