Trump Pledges To Help Chinese Telecom Giant Ahead Of Trade Talks
May 14 2018 - 6:00AM
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Ahead of a second round of trade talks between the U.S. and
China this week, President Donald Trump has indicated he will help
Chinese telecom giant ZTE Corp. get "back into business."
Trump said in a post on Twitter on Sunday that he is working
with Chinese President Xi Jinping to assist ZTE, which has been
crippled by a ban on U.S. supplies to its business.
"President Xi of China, and I, are working together to give
massive Chinese phone company, ZTE, a way to get back into
business, fast," Trump tweeted. "Too many jobs in China lost.
Commerce Department has been instructed to get it done!"
Sources briefed on the matter told Reuters that China has
demanded the ZTE issue be resolved as a prerequisite for broader
trade negotiations.
Last week, ZTE said its major operating activities have ceased
as a result of the denial of export privileges imposed by the
Commerce Department.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced the denial order last
month, claiming ZTE made false statements about employee
disciplinary actions related to the illegal shipping of telecom
equipment to Iran and North Korea.
The Commerce Department said the false statements covered up the
fact that ZTE paid full bonuses to employees that had engaged in
illegal conduct and failed to issue letters of reprimand.
"ZTE misled the Department of Commerce. Instead of reprimanding
ZTE staff and senior management, ZTE rewarded them. This egregious
behavior cannot be ignored," Ross said at the time.
In a press briefing on Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry
spokesman Lu Kang said China "greatly appreciates" Trump's new
position on the ZTE issue.
The tweet from Trump comes as Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is due
to travel to Washington this week to meet with the president's
economic team.
Trump expressed optimism about trade talks with China in a
subsequent tweet despite claiming past negotiations have been
one-sided in favor of Beijing.
"China and the United States are working well together on trade,
but past negotiations have been so one sided in favor of China, for
so many years, that it is hard for them to make a deal that
benefits both countries," Trump tweeted. "But be cool, it will all
work out!"
A U.S. delegation led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin
traveled to Beijing earlier this month for trade talks with Chinese
officials.
A report from China's state-run Xinhua news agency said the
talks resulted in agreements on some issues but noted considerable
differences still exist.
Xinhua said both sides recognized the remaining differences and
said continued hard work is required for more progress.
The talks included discussions of issues such as increasing U.S.
exports to China, bilateral service trade, two-way investment,
protection of intellectual property rights, and resolving tariff
and non-tariff issues.
Xinhua said the two sides agreed to stay in close communication
on relevant issues and establish a corresponding work
mechanism.
(Photo: Gage Skidmore)
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