China’s Foreign Minister Urges Cooperation With U.S.

(Bloomberg) — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged a return to cooperation with U.S., as the world’s two largest economies neared a preliminary deal to scale back their ongoing trade war.Wang told a conference on Chinese diplomacy Friday in Beijing that the U.S. actions on a range of issues have damaged the “hard-won” relationship between the two sides. He accused U.S. officials of having “defamed” the Chinese side, saying the American government’s flawed understanding of the country was at the root of their tensions.Wang, who also holds the title of state councilor, said that cooperation was still the only right way forward.The criticism by one of China’s top diplomats underscores the strategic conflict that has widened between the two sides amid the trade war. The economic dispute has encouraged a bipartisan effort in Washington to push back against China’s expanding military and diplomatic reach and challenge its human rights record in places like the former British colony of Hong Kong.Wang’s comments — part of broader speech assessing the country’s diplomatic activities over the past 12 months — came as President Donald Trump signed off on a so-called phase-one trade deal with China, according to people familiar with the matter. Beijing has yet to comment on the agreement, which the people said would avert the Dec. 15 introduction of a new wave of U.S. tariffs on about $160 billion of Chinese consumer goods.–With assistance from Penny Peng.To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Sharon Chen in Beijing at [email protected] contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at [email protected], John LiuFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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