Trump's Attack on China Is an Attempt to Gain Leverage in Trade Negotiations

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Park Sun-mi] An analysis has emerged that the United States' attacks on China over the origin of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) are driven by calculations to gain an advantage in the second phase of trade negotiations.

On the 6th, China's state-run media Global Times pointed out, "U.S. officials led by President Donald Trump have recently attempted to attack China again over the origin of COVID-19," adding, "There is no evidence that this virus came from a Wuhan laboratory, and the U.S. is trying to shift the blame for its failure in responding to COVID-19 onto China."

It further stated, "President Trump's attacks on China are likely attempts to gain leverage in negotiations for the second phase of the trade agreement," and "Trump's emphasis in an interview with Reuters last week that he would be better than Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in trade negotiations supports this U.S. intention." It also added, "In the global spread of COVID-19, the U.S. economy already needs more trade with China, which is in the recovery phase."

The newspaper made it clear that such U.S. attacks on China, driven by these ulterior motives, cannot succeed. "If President Trump and his aides do not stop their offensive, China may indefinitely postpone the second phase of trade negotiations," it warned, adding, "If Trump and other U.S. politicians sacrifice China and harm China's national interests, China also needs to make the U.S. economy pay the price. Proportional measures must be taken."

The atmosphere in China's state-run media indicates that China is prepared to confront the U.S. head-on amid continued attacks. On the same day, the Chinese Communist Party's official newspaper People's Daily directly criticized President Donald Trump's flawed COVID-19 response in its 'Zhongsheng (鐘聲)' commentary on major international issues. It quoted an article from U.S. media criticizing Trump, stating, "Many aspects of life have changed in the past two months due to COVID-19, but the only thing that has not changed is the Trump administration's failed foreign policy." The Global Times also criticized in an editorial that "Secretary Pompeo and other Trump administration politicians continue to spread the virus origin theory blaming China without evidence."

Even when U.S.-China relations were strained due to the trade war, Chinese media only criticized U.S. unilateralism and protectionism, refraining from directly mentioning President Trump and Secretary Pompeo. However, since March, when China's state-run Xinhua News Agency referred to the U.S. COVID-19 outbreak as the "Trump Pandemic," the focus of Chinese media's attacks on the U.S. has intensified to directly target the Trump administration.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.