China’s President Xi Jinping has not called President Donald Trump, Beijing said Monday, despite Trump’s claims to the contrary.
Trump said in an interview with Time magazine that Xi had already contacted him after Trump triggered a trade war between their countries—the two largest economies in the world—with punishing tariffs.
“He’s called. And I don’t think that’s a sign of weakness on his behalf,” Trump said in the interview published Friday.
However, Beijing is now flat-out denying that any such contact was made.
“As far as I know, there has been no recent phone call between the two heads of state,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Guo Jiakun said during a news conference.
The diplomat reiterated that the two nations have not entered negotiations about scaling back the supercharged duties that each government has imposed on the other.
“I would like to reiterate that China and the U.S. have not conducted consultations or negotiations on the tariffs issue,” Jiakun said.
“If the U.S. really wants to solve the problem through dialogue and negotiation, it should stop threatening and blackmailing (China),” he added, Reuters reports.
The U.S. has imposed 145 percent levies on Chinese imports, while Beijing responded by issuing 125 duties on American goods.
The Daily Beast has requested clarification from the White House regarding the purported phone call.
When pressed for details about what Xi supposedly said, Trump did not give a clear answer. “If people want to–well, we all want to make deals,” he said, according to a transcript of his remarks. “But I am this giant store. It’s a giant, beautiful store, and everybody wants to go shopping there. And on behalf of the American people, I own the store, and I set prices, and I’ll say, if you want to shop here, this is what you have to pay.”
He also did not provide any more information when a CNN reporter asked about the contents of the call on Friday. “I don’t want to comment on that, but I’ve spoken to him many times,” Trump said.
China’s denial about the call comes after Beijing similarly contradicted Trump’s claim that talks are underway to address the tariff standoff.
Speaking last Wednesday, Trump said the two countries are in contact on the matter “every day.”
But a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry on Thursday said that “China and the U.S. have not engaged in any consultations or negotiations regarding tariffs, let alone reached an agreement,” according to NBC.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce also said “any claims about progress in China-U.S. economic and trade negotiations are baseless rumors without factual evidence,” the New York Times reported.
The post China Calls BS on Trump’s Story About a Phone Call From Xi appeared first on The Daily Beast.
