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China’s foreign minister calls for US restraint on trade

China’s senior diplomat Wang Yi told U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday that recent U.S. words and actions had harmed the interests of China and its enterprises, and that Washington should show restraint, China’s foreign ministry said.

Speaking to Pompeo by telephone, Wang said the United States should not go “too far” in the current trade dispute between the two sides, adding that China was still willing to resolve differences through negotiations, but they should be on an equal footing.

On Iran, Wang said China hoped all parties will exercise restraint and act with caution to avoid escalating tensions.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement that Pompeo spoke with Wang and discussed bilateral issues and U.S. concerns about Iran, but gave no other details.

Tensions between Washington and Tehran have increased in recent days, raising concerns about a potential U.S.-Iran conflict. Earlier this week the United States pulled some diplomatic staff from its Baghdad embassy following attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf.

China struck a more aggressive tone in its trade war with the United States on Friday, suggesting a resumption of talks between the world’s two largest economies would be meaningless unless Washington changed course. (more…)

Huawei does not need US chips: CEO on Trump export ban

Huawei Technologies’ founder and chief executive blasted the Trump administration’s decision to add his company to a government blacklist, insisting the Chinese telecom equipment maker has done nothing illegal.

“We have not done anything which violates the law,” CEO Ren Zhengfei told Japanese media at company headquarters in Shenzhen on Saturday in his first interview since the U.S. decision to restrict trade with the Huawei.

Ren indicated that his company will continue developing its own chips to lessen the impact of the ban on its production. Ren said it would be “fine” even if Qualcomm and other American suppliers would not sell chips to Huawei. “We have already been preparing for this,” he said.

Huawei unit HiSilicon Technologies, which mainly designs core processor chips, has made similar allusions to plans for dealing with a potential disruption in supply. In a recent open letter, President Teresa He Tingbo wrote, “We actually have foreseen this day for many years, and we do have a backup plan.”

Echoing his tougher tone in recent months, Ren said his company will not be dictated to by Washington. “We will not change our management at the request of the U.S. or accept monitoring, as ZTE has done,” he said.

The U.S. deployed a similar ban against ZTE last year, pushing the Chinese telecom company to the brink of bankruptcy. (more…)

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