China wants to evade a trade war with the United States but will retaliate against any further US restrictions on technology and trade, said the Chinese ambassador to the US.
Ambassador Xie Feng criticised US curbs on the sale of microchips and chipmaking equipment to China that were imposed last year by the Biden administration. Beijing has described the measure as part of an effort to “contain” China.
“China does not shy away from competition, but the definition of competition by the US side I think is not fair,” Xie said on Wednesday at the Aspen Security Forum, a security and foreign policy conference in Aspen, Colorado. China earlier this month imposed export curbs on two key metals used in computer chips and solar cells, a measure widely seen as retaliation for the US restrictions on microchips.
Earlier this year, Beijing restricted sales of products from Micron Inc., the biggest US producer of memory chips.
“Definitely it’s not our hope to have a tit for tat,” Xie said. “We don’t want a trade war, technological war. We want to say goodbye to the Iron Curtain, as well as the Silicon Curtain.”
Xie’s comments come as Washington and Beijing are trying to patch up their relationship, which has hit new lows in recent months over a slew of issues including a suspected Chinese spy balloon that flew over US territory and tensions over trade, technology, human rights and China’s claim to Taiwan and much of the South China Sea. As part of efforts to mend ties, three top US officials visited Beijing in recent weeks. John Kerry, the US special envoy on climate, concluded talks on Wednesday with Chinese officials on ways to combat climate change and restore high-level cooperation between the two countries. He was preceded earlier this month by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. Last month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken travelled to China on a visit focused on reopening communication channels between the two countries and reviving stalled talks between their militaries.