WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 Who called first?
It’s the question that has put Beijing and Washington in a verbal sparring match even as the two countries are heading into a weekend meeting in Switzerland to that they in heated moments that have shaken financial markets and stirred worries about the global economy.
鈥淭he meeting is being held at the request of the U.S. side,鈥欌 Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Wednesday.
President Donald Trump disagreed. 鈥淭hey said we initiated it? Well, I think they ought to go back and study their files,鈥 Trump said Wednesday when swearing in David Perdue as the new U.S. ambassador to China. That followed weeks of each side suggesting the other side had reached out first, including Trump implying Chinese President Xi Jinping had called him, only to be refuted by Beijing.
When it comes to the world’s two largest economies readying themselves for what is expected to be tough trade talks, the public back-and-forth is no trivial matter.
鈥淭he obsession with who reached out first is a proxy fight over leverage,鈥 said Craig Singleton, senior director of the China program at the Washington-based think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies. 鈥淔or Washington, signaling that Beijing initiated the meeting reinforces the narrative that the tariffs are working. For Beijing, denying outreach preserves the illusion of parity and avoids domestic perception of weakness.鈥
Jockeying for dominance
Daniel Russel, a former U.S. diplomat who oversaw East Asian and Pacific affairs, called the exchange 鈥減art diplomatic stalemate and part dominance display worthy of a nature documentary.鈥
In his decades-long career as a diplomat, Russel said he is unaware of a single instance where a Chinese leader initiated a call with a U.S. president. 鈥淚t may be pride, it may be protocol, but for Beijing, being the demandeur is to show weakness 鈥 and that鈥檚 something the Chinese system is hardwired to avoid,鈥 said Russel, now vice president for international security and diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute.
The Trump’s administration is less accommodating. 鈥淭heir position is: 鈥業f Xi wants the tariffs lifted, he knows how to reach us,鈥欌 Russel said.
Not long after Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods to 145% and Beijing retaliated with 125% tariffs on U.S. goods, Trump suggested that China, like many other countries, was in talks with his administration. On April 22, he to say 鈥渨e’re doing very well鈥 regarding a potential trade deal with China.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a process that鈥檚 going to go pretty quickly with China,鈥 . 鈥淚 think we鈥檙e going to live together very happily and ideally work together.鈥
Back and forth ... and back again
Yet China quickly towards a deal. When asked about such negotiations, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun responded: 鈥淎ll is fake news.鈥 The next day, Guo asked the U.S. to on tariff talks.
Then came a when Trump claimed Xi had called him. Details? None provided. When? Trump didn’t say. 鈥淗e鈥檚 called. And I don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 a sign of weakness on his behalf,” Trump said in the interview published on April 25. , saying there was no recent leadership phone call.
Yet soon the word started to spread on China’s social media that the Trump administration was contacting Beijing, and by the Chinese Commerce Ministry.
The U.S. had 鈥渞epeatedly鈥 and 鈥減roactively鈥 conveyed messages to China recently to express the hope to engage in negotiations with China, the ministry said on May 2. 鈥淚n this regard, the Chinese side is assessing it,” the ministry said, in an apparent off-ramp move climbdown that prepared the public opinion for the announcement a few days later that Vice Premier He Lifeng would meet U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Switzerland this weekend.
Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, said the reality is more complicated when the two governments have been in regular contact and each side may have its own understanding what constitutes 鈥渞eaching out鈥 for tariff talks. 鈥淭echnically,” Sun said, 鈥渂oth sides are correct.鈥
By Thursday, Trump appeared ready to move on. 鈥淲e can all play games 鈥 who made the first call, who didn鈥檛 make them. Doesn鈥檛 matter,” Trump said.
Referring to the upcoming tariff talk this weekend in Switzerland, Trump said: “It only matters what happens in that room.鈥
