Trade war should be separated from political issues

By Zhang Yansheng Source:Global Times Published: 2019/12/4 19:54:54

Residents in Urumqi, capital of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, dance in a square. Photo: Cui Meng/GT

Whether to let the so-called Xinjiang-related bill get in between the China-US trade talks is fundamentally up to China. The US is attempting to introduce everything that can disrupt China to be related to the China-US trade war. If China goes along with the US' moves, all issues will be entangled with each other and the trade war will become an endless problem. 

The US has interfered with Hong Kong affairs, now there's the Xinjiang bill. Later, Taiwan-related issues could also be brought into the picture.

From this perspective, toppling Hong Kong and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region are US strategic intentions. But it should be clear that these issues are not related with the trade war. Due to the ideological and value differences between the two countries, it is inevitable that members of the US Congress cook up these bills. 

If the trade war is connected with all those political issues, the trade war will be upgraded to a major problem in China-US diplomatic ties. Then it will become boundless. China should draw a line somewhere, separating the trade war and diplomatic ties. Any trade agreement will be held up endlessly if the trade war is tied up with the so-called Xinjiang bill.

The author is chief research fellow with the China Center for International Economic Exchanges. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn

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