- China has warned the US both of the largest economies could face severe consequences if they did not defuse a more than yearlong trade dispute.
- "Decoupling from China's economy would be to decouple from opportunities, and the future," Chinese state councilor and foreign minister Wang Yi said Tuesday.
- The comments marked a departure for Wang, who has in the past highlighted a mutual dependence between the US and China.
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China has escalated pressure on the US ahead of negotiations scheduled for early October, warning that both of the largest economies could face severe consequences if they did not take steps defuse a more-than-yearlong trade dispute.
Speaking in New York late on Tuesday, Chinese state councilor and foreign minister Wang Yi said Beijing did not want to "play the Game of Thrones on the world stage" and urged the US to "remove all unreasonable restrictions."
"Decoupling from China's economy would be to decouple from opportunities, and the future," he said at a dinner co-hosted by the National Committee on US-China Relations and the US-China Business Council. "Are we going to move ahead along the right route, or veer into the wrong one with endless troubles ahead?"
The comments marked a departure for Wang, who has in the past highlighted a mutual dependence between the US and China. They came weeks ahead of planned negotiations between the two sides, which have slapped tariffs on thousands of each other's products.
Tariffs have disrupted global supply chains, raised costs and cast uncertainty on business plans. But President Donald Trump asserts they are necessary to pressure China to change trade practices that put American companies at a disadvantage, such as the forced transfer of foreign technology and intellectual property theft.
"Not only has China declined to adopt promised reforms, it has embraced an economic model, dependent on massive market barriers, heavy state subsidies, currency manipulation, product dumping, forced technology transfers and the theft of intellectual property," Trump said earlier on Tuesday. "And also trade secrets, on a grand scale."
High-level trade delegations from the US and China plan to meet in Washington the second week of October, just days before both sides plan to enact further tariff increases.