BEIJING – The outgoing U. S. ambassador on Tuesday advocated a difficult technique for China that has shaken the world’s two largest economies, saying the Trump administration has advanced in the industry and expects it to expand to other areas.
But Terry Branstad, iowa’s former governor selected through President Donald Trump to be sent to China, agreed that China has responded to tension by responding in kind, from final consulates to import tariffs.
“The unfortunate thing is that we try to rebalance appointments so that we have equity and reciprocity, but every time we do something, they keep it unbalanced,” he said in an interview at the U. S. Embassy in Beijing.
Branstad is back in Iowa this weekend after 3 years and 3 months as ambassador to Beijing, the longest time he and his wife have lived outdoors in their home state. No successor has been appointed.
After launching an industrial war in 2018 and Chinese telecom giant Huawei for national security reasons, Trump’s leadership has stepped up pressure on China this year.
Imposed new restrictions on Chinese diplomats and journalists; He closed the Chinese consulate in Houston and continually criticized China on several fronts, from its control of the coronavirus to its military movements in the South China Sea and its human rights record in Hong Kong and the Xinjiang region, which largely houses Muslim ethnic groups.
China rebuked the United States and took parallel action, adding the closure of a U. S. consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu. With heated exchanges almost daily, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said he faced his biggest challenge since normalization in 1979.
Branstad downplayed fears, noting that appointments had gone through ups and downs in the past, but admitted that pressure on China can lead to a downward spiral of expanding restrictions.
He cited the so-called Phase One industry agreement, reached in January, and China’s agreement to include fentanyl as a controlled substance among positive developments. The United States is looking to decrease the number of opioids in China.
In trade, China has promised to cover foreign generation rights and trade secrets. China has made similar promises in the afterlife and corporations say they are waiting to see how commitments are fulfilled.
“I think in the field of trade, we have focused their attention and are moving forward,” Branstad said. “I hope that we can in other (domains), in terms of the remedy of our means, the remedy of our diplomats. .
Branstad, who traveled extensively through China during his stay, complained of a desire to unload government approval for each stopover on which he asked to make a stopover in Tibet 3 times before his stopover last year. Once there, however, he said he had open exchanges with scholars and tevery oneers. Elsewhere, his delight has varied.
The former governor of Iowa has long-standing ties to Chinese leader Xi Jinping and first noticed him as someone who can simply calm relations. He arrived in China as governor in 1984 after signing a sister state agreement with Hebei Province, and met Xi the following year when he was the communist party official at the county level at the time. traveled to Iowa as the leader of an agricultural delegation.
While U. S. -China relations have tightened, Branstad argued that long-term ties remain valuable and said he had met with Xi several times since he arrived in China in 2017, adding a personal circle dinner of relatives in early 2018 that included Branstad’s daughter and grandchildren.
“I think he still has a lot of emotions for me and Iowa and the way we treat him,” Branstad said. “And, you know, I discovered in this culture, non-public relations are important. And yet I constitute the United States.
Branstad blamed the coronavirus for changing the relationship, saying Xi had trusted Trump that the epidemic was under control when in fact it was not. China was criticized for covering up the crisis in the early days, and was praised for its strict measures to stop it. propagation later.
“Obviously, it has a lot to do, I think, with the president for China,” Branstad said.
Trump blamed China for the pandemic, which some analysts see as a way to deflect blame for its handling of the crisis before a difficult re-election war in November.
Branstad plans to cross over into Iowa by Trump and other Republican candidates and said he would focus on a component in what the administration has done in China and the desire for a relationship, while emphasizing equity.
“I’ve never lost an election and it’s still in my blood,” said the 73-year-old political veteran.
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