You called me. No -- you called ME. Before US-China meeting, nations each say the other wanted talks

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

You called me. No — you called ME. Before US-China meeting, nations each say the other wanted talks

By DIDI TANG
Updated 1:55 PM EDT, May 9, 2025

-snip-

“The meeting is being held at the request of the U.S. side,’’ Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Wednesday.

President Donald Trump disagreed. “They said we initiated it? Well, I think they ought to go back and study their files,” 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.

“The obsession with who reached out first is a proxy fight over leverage,” said Craig Singleton, senior director of the China program at the Washington-based think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “For 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.”

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/china-united-states-trump-xi-jinping-diplomacy-3d476906422ba9749641c82979f67c28

[walkingman]

1. America is being portrayed worldwide as bullies - it is pretty disgusting.

[Scrivener7]

2. Guess who I don't believe.