Without actions, Raimondo's words just sweet talk: China Daily editorial

To the China hawks in Washington, that her email account has allegedly been breached by "China-based hackers", a claim for which they provide no evidence, is reason enough for US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to not communicate with the Chinese side, not to mention scupper her proposed trip to Beijing.

It is the same US politicians who accuse Beijing of "overreacting" for refusing a meeting between the Chinese defense minister and his US counterpart, even though the former has unwarrantedly been subject to US sanctions since 2018.

That points to the bone of contention between the two countries. While Washington thinks it is treating China with enough respect and on an equal footing, Beijing sees it otherwise.

That was also reflected in Raimondo's remarks on the United States' trade with China at an event at the Wilson Center in Washington on Tuesday.

Compared with the China-bashing rhetoric that rattles all the halls in Washington, her remarks were apparently milder and more pragmatic, and may be taken as an effort to ease the tensions and show her goodwill before a visit to China that she said she is planning for "later this summer".

Yet even while stressing the huge benefits of doing business where possible, and that "there is no national security risk" involved in Chinese consumer products being sold in the US, she cautioned Washington must keep its "eyes wide open" to the threats and strategic competition from China.

Beijing, as demonstrated by its hosting of the US secretary of state, treasury secretary and climate envoy one after another, will be hospitable in a bid to stabilize bilateral relations. But Beijing has to take the overture Raimondo has made ahead of her proposed visit with a pinch of salt.

It is, after all, still a call for "de-risking". She expects China to provide the US what the latter needs, something it does not produce itself and cannot easily find an alternative source for, while persuading Beijing to accept that the US cannot offer China what it needs in return since that will allegedly harm the US' interests.

That's ridiculous, as it replaces fairness, reciprocity and complementarity, all key components of the foundation of global trade, with the US' interests, will and hegemony.

If Raimondo really wants to show her good faith in improving trade ties with China and facilitate her planned trip to the country, she should start by doing her part to help put an end to the tariff war with China and shorten her department's Entity List targeting the country.