China accuses US of hypocrisy over Joe Biden’s ‘xenophobic’ comments

The United States also announced this week an investigation into China’s trade practices.

Beijng:

Beijing accused the United States of hypocrisy on Thursday, responding to U.S. President Joe Biden’s accusations of “xenophobia” and “deception” by China on trade.

“I want to ask him: Are you talking about China or the United States itself?” When asked about related comments, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said.

In a speech to union members on Wednesday, Biden called for higher steel tariffs on China and accused China of cheating as he courted blue-collar voters on a campaign trip to the battleground state of Pennsylvania.

“They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating, and we’re already seeing the damage done in America,” Biden, 81, told cheers at the headquarters of the United Steelworkers union in Pittsburgh.

The Democrat said Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about profitability because the Chinese government heavily subsidizes them.”

Biden said he has called on the U.S. Trade Representative to triple tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing is proven to engage in anti-competitive practices.

“They are xenophobic,” he added. “They have a real problem. I’m not looking for a fight with China, I’m looking for competition – but fair play.”

Beijing and Washington have clashed in recent years over hot-button issues including technology, trade, human rights, the self-ruled island of Taiwan and the disputed South China Sea.

Relations between the two countries have stabilized since President Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met in San Francisco last November, with both sides describing the talks as moderately successful.

The two men had a follow-up phone call this month and clashed over U.S. trade restrictions on technology and Taiwan, which Beijing claims are imposed on Taiwan.

But they also agreed that two senior U.S. officials will soon travel to China – Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visited last week and top diplomat Antony Blinken is about to visit Beijing.

The United States also announced this week an investigation into China’s trade practices in shipbuilding, maritime and logistics.

China’s Ministry of Commerce hit back, saying the investigation was “full of false accusations, misinterpreting normal trade and investment activities as harming U.S. national security and corporate interests, and blaming China for its own industrial problems.”

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