China’s President Xi Jinping has denied that there has been any recent communication between himself and U.S. President Donald Trump.
According to CNN, Xi has not spoken to Trump recently, which was claimed by Trump in a recent interview with TIME.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said during a press conference when asked about the alleged phone call by a reporter on Monday, that there has been no talks or negotiations on tariffs.
“As far as I know, there have not been any calls between the two presidents recently,” Guo said. “Let me make it clear one more time that China and the U.S. are not engaged in any consultation or negotiation on tariffs.”
Guo was then asked about U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s comments on Sunday about China denying that Trump and Xi had recently spoken during a call because China is “playing to a different audience.”
“China’s position on the tariff war is abundantly clear. Tariff and trade wars have no winners,” Guo said. “If a negotiated solution is truly what the U.S. wants, it should stop threatening and blackmailing China, and seek dialogue based on equality, respect and mutual benefit.”
As previously reported by IJR, Trump told TIME that Xi had called and that he did not see that as a sign of “weakness.”
“He’s called. And I don’t think that’s a sign of weakness on his behalf,” Trump said.
Trump was then asked if it would be perceived as a sign of weakness if Trump called Xi and was asked what Xi said during his call.
“If people want to–well, we all want to make deals,” Trump said. “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.”
