China draws national security red lines in its trade war with the United States
- Former top officials say Beijing will not compromise on core sovereignty interests, from the internet to Taiwan
China’s national security issues – from Taiwan to the South China Sea and food security – will be at stake as the United States expands the trade war, according to some of Beijing’s most experienced US hands.
Beijing has long claimed that national interests were at the heart of its main differences with Washington in the trade talks but it had not specified them publicly.
But at a forum in Beijing on Friday, Zhou Wenchong, China’s ambassador to the US from 2005 to 2010, said the biggest problem was whether the US could accept and agree with “the development and flourishing of a socialist China”.
“Some people in [US President Donald Trump’s] government would like to see the conflict expand beyond trade to technology and people-to-people exchanges, and from politics to national security, especially on issues like Taiwan and the South China Sea,” said Zhou, who has continued to meet US government delegations to China since his retirement.
“[These are] China’s core interests and sensitive areas, and we will make the necessary reactions.”
His comments at the “High-End Seminar on Sino-US Economic and Trade Relations” hosted by state-backed think tank was the first time Beijing has drawn clear red lines around sensitive political dimensions of the trade war.
