CHINA URGES U.S. TO DUMP HIGH TARIFFS, RESTORE GOODWILL

China has urged the Biden administration to take steps to “build up goodwill,” including removing tariffs and sanctions, as Beijing continued to put the onus on Washington to repair their fractured relationship, Colum Murphy, Jing Li, and Jon Herskovitz of Bloomberg reported.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a forum Monday in Beijing that the two sides should reopen dialog platforms cut off under former president Donald Trump and back away from some of the previous administration’s policies.

He reiterated the need to remove “unreasonable tariffs,” abandon “irrational suppression” of China’s technology progress and cited curbs on Chinese media and students as another issue of concern.

“Under the current circumstances, the two sides may start from easier things, interact actively and build up goodwill,” Wang said, adding that Beijing and Washington were still capable of “getting big things done” for the world.

“We hope that the US side will adjust its policies as soon as possible.”

The speech represents China’s most high-profile comment on ties since U.S. President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping spoke by phone before the Lunar New Year holiday earlier this month.

While both sides want to stabilize a relationship shaken during Trump’s term, Biden has signaled a desire to maintain many of his predecessor’s China policies. He is not listening to Wang Yi’s arrogant oratory, White House officials said.

As China waits for the US to make a first move, the Biden team has been making efforts to rebuild bonds with America’s partners.

On Friday, the president urged US allies to uphold democracy, warning that the world faces an “inflection point” in history that could result in a tilt toward autocracy.

While a Feb. 19 readout from the Group of Seven industrialized nations’ meeting offered little detail on China, leaders discussed the country “at length,” Bloomberg News reported, citing a European Union (EU) official with knowledge of the conversation.

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