Cold War mentality

Top Chinese diplomat: U.S., China should avoid 'Cold War mentality'

By REBECCA MORIN

China's foreign minister warned Tuesday warned that the United States and China should not view each other with a "Cold War mentality" amid escalating trade tensions between the two nations.

The remark by Wang Yi, who is also a Chinese state councillor, came during a meeting with former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly meeting. Wang cautioned that both nations will suffer if Beijing and Washington go up against each other, according to a report by Reuters.

“China and the United States can have competition, but should not use a Cold War mentality to view each other, and nor should they slip into the trap of a zero-sum game,” Wang said, Reuters reported.

Wang said China hopes the U.S. will meet Beijing halfway to ensure they have a “correct perception” of each other.

The two countries have been locked in a trade dispute over the last couple of months, stirred in large part by U.S. President Donald Trump's insistence on resetting the terms of the economic relationship between the two nations, which he has long complained are currently unfair to the U.S. Trump has accused China of currency manipulation, forced technology transfers and intellectual property theft, among other alleged infractions.

As part of the president's effort to shift his nation's trade relationship with China, the Trump administration has imposed significant tariffs on Chinese imports, including $200 billion in import taxes imposed this week.

“Recently, certain U.S. forces domestically have been continually blackening China’s name, creating antagonistic feeling, which has caused serious harm to the atmosphere of Sino-U.S. ties,” Wang said, according to Reuters.