China Hopes United States Will Improve Military Relations
On Thursday, Chinese officials called on the United States to make an effort to create stronger ties between the militaries of the two countries, despite what looks to be a long and dragged out trade war on the horizon, according to reports from Reuters.
Ren Guoqiang, the Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman, laid the blame for the divide on the U.S. and the country was particularly bothered by the increasing regularity of flights by the American military over the South China Sea and dangerously close to Chinese airspace.
Ren said, “The United States is to blame for the present problem, so the United States must immediately correct its mistakes, and withdraw the so-called sanctions to dispel obstacles that interfere in the healthy development of relations between the two militaries.”
Ren also pointed out that it is becoming increasingly likely that Chinese Defense Minister We Fenghe will be canceling his planned trip to the United States later in the year.
Tensions between the two countries have been raised over the past several days due to some aggressive actions that were taken by President Donald Trump. On Wednesday during a meeting with the United Nations Security Council, Trump alleged that there was Chinese effort to undermine his presidency through interference in the upcoming 2018 American elections.
While Trump made the allegations without any concrete evidence, he later took to Twitter to post images from a newspaper in Iowa with ads purchased by the Chinese government. These advertisements were presented in the form of editorials that criticized Trump’s economic policy.
China is actually placing propaganda ads in the Des Moines Register and other papers, made to look like news. That’s because we are beating them on Trade, opening markets, and the farmers will make a fortune when this is over! pic.twitter.com/ppdvTX7oz1
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2018
The Chinese representative on the Security Council, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, flatly rejected all of Trump’s accusations.
“We did not and will not interfere in any country’s domestic affairs. We refuse to accept any unwarranted accusations against China,” Wang said through a translator.
These disputes between the largest economies in the world have become quite common over recent months. The majority of the division that has been sewn focuses on the subject of trade, as both countries have been implementing steadily escalating tariffs on each other since the beginning of 2018.
The most recent tariffs saw the United States place a tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods that were imported into the country, which prompted China to respond in kind by placing a tariff of there own on several billion dollars worth of American goods.
Trump has regularly pointed out that the tariffs are a necessary measure to ensure that the United States secures a good deal on trade between the countries, despite opposing arguments saying that they will drive up everyday costs for Americans.
