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Top Democrat backs Trump bid to realign dealings with Beijing
A prominent American critic of President Donald Trump has backed his plans to “recalibrate” the United States’ economic dealings with Beijing, saying US policies toward China had been “misdirected” for a long time.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, who is on a short visit to Beijing, said US policy needed a rethink and she did not fear tariffs being implemented on Chinese goods.
Warren said the US government was waking up to Chinese demands for US companies to give up their know-how in exchange for access to its market, after years of assuming economic engagement would lead to a more open China.
“The whole policy was misdirected. We told ourselves a happy-face story that never fit with the facts,” Warren told reporters on Saturday.
“Now US policymakers are starting to look more aggressively at pushing China to open up the markets without demanding a hostage price of access to US technology,” she said.
Warren discussed trade issues and North Korea with senior Chinese officials, including Liu He, the vice premier for economic policy, Yang Jiechi, a top diplomat, and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe.
She said she told officials she met that Americans cannot support a more integrated economic system with China if it “fails to respect basic human rights”.
China’s ruling Communist Party has tightened controls on society since President Xi Jinping assumed power, from online censorship to a crackdown on activists and non-governmental organizations, though Chinese officials routinely deny accusations of rights abuses.
A prominent American critic of President Donald Trump has backed his plans to “recalibrate” the United States’ economic dealings with Beijing, saying US policies toward China had been “misdirected” for a long time.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, who is on a short visit to Beijing, said US policy needed a rethink and she did not fear tariffs being implemented on Chinese goods.
Warren said the US government was waking up to Chinese demands for US companies to give up their know-how in exchange for access to its market, after years of assuming economic engagement would lead to a more open China.
“The whole policy was misdirected. We told ourselves a happy-face story that never fit with the facts,” Warren told reporters on Saturday.
“Now US policymakers are starting to look more aggressively at pushing China to open up the markets without demanding a hostage price of access to US technology,” she said.
Warren discussed trade issues and North Korea with senior Chinese officials, including Liu He, the vice premier for economic policy, Yang Jiechi, a top diplomat, and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe.
She said she told officials she met that Americans cannot support a more integrated economic system with China if it “fails to respect basic human rights”.
China’s ruling Communist Party has tightened controls on society since President Xi Jinping assumed power, from online censorship to a crackdown on activists and non-governmental organizations, though Chinese officials routinely deny accusations of rights abuses.