Photo: China Foreign Ministry's spokesperson Lin Jian

A Chinese Foreign Ministry (FM) spokesperson on Monday reiterated that threatening China with high tariffs is not the right approach for the US to get along with China, urged Washington to promptly correct its wrong approach, and stressed that China will take resolute measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.

FM spokesperson Lin Jian's comments came in response to questions on US recent claims that Washington would impose 100 percent additional tariffs on Chinese goods starting November 1 in retaliation for China's export controls on rare earths and other related items, and whether China would impose new tariffs on US imports.

For some time recently, the US has imposed a string of restrictions and sanctions on China, which severely harm China's interests. "China firmly opposes that," Lin said, adding that rather than take a hard look at its own moves, the US threatened China with high tariffs and this is not the right way to deal with China.

"China urges the US to correct its wrongdoings as soon as possible, follow the guidance of the important common understandings between the leaders of the two countries in their phone calls, solve each other's concerns through dialogue, properly handle differences on the basis of equality, respect and mutual benefit, and uphold the stable, sound and sustainable development of bilateral relations," Lin stressed.

If the US keeps refusing to change course, China will be firmly resolved in taking corresponding measures to safeguard its own legitimate rights and interests, Lin noted. 

Also on Monday, in response to Global Times' question at the same press briefing about media reports, including claims that Pakistan took advantage of Chinese equipment and technology to export rare earth to the US, which resulted in China's strict export control measures on rare earth-related technologies, some we-media accounts said in videos and articles that Pakistan sent rare earth samples to the US and agreed on rare earth cooperation, and China took countermeasures against Pakistan's rare earth exports to the US, spokesperson Lin Jian dismissed the reports as either misinformed or invented, or even designed to drive a wedge between China and Pakistan. "They are just baseless," Lin said. 

"China's recently released export control measures on related rare earth items have nothing to do with Pakistan. It is a legitimate action by the Chinese government to refine its export control system in accordance with laws and regulations. It aims to better defend world peace and regional stability and to fulfill non-proliferation and other international obligations."

These comments came after the US on Friday threatened to add an additional 100 percent tariff on imports from China and impose export controls on all critical US-made software from November in response to China's export control on rare earths and related items.

China Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Sunday that China's export control measures on rare earths and related items are normal actions taken by the Chinese government in accordance with laws and regulations to refine its own export control system.

Since the China-US economic and trade talks in Madrid in September, the US has rolled out a series of new restrictive measures targeting China. These include adding multiple Chinese entities to the Entity List and the Special Designated National List; arbitrarily expanding the scope of control under the Affiliates Rule; and implementing Section 301 measures against China's maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding industries.

"The US actions have severely harmed China's interests and undermined the atmosphere of bilateral economic and trade talks," the MOFCOM spokesperson said in a statement, urging the US to promptly correct its wrong practices and continue to use the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism, and address respective concerns and properly manage differences through dialogues. 

"If the US insists on going the wrong way, China will surely take resolute measures to protect its legitimate rights and interests," MOFCOM spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, after the US renewed tariff threats reportedly spooked Wall Street, Trump on Sunday posted a statement on Truth Social, claiming that there was no need to worry about China and "it will all be fine!" A Bloomberg report interpreted this as a signal that the US is opening the door to a deal with China as their trade spat drags on.

A CNN report viewed the latest comments as "a shift" from last week, and suggested that Washington "may not follow through" with its latest tariff threat, per the report. 

The latest remarks suggest that the US wants to keep up the pressure on China to reverse its most recent trade moves, while trying to reassure spooked markets that a tit-for-tat escalation isn't inevitable, the Bloomberg report said.

Room for future China-US talks will largely depend on whether the US adopts concrete actions and genuine willingness to engage in constructive dialogue, Li Yong, a senior research fellow at the China Association of International Trade, told the Global Times on Monday.

Gao Lingyun, a research fellow at the Institute of World Economics and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that "China has already shown firm resolve to protect its legitimate rights and interests and is fully prepared to respond to any unreasonable demands."