President Donald Trump castigated China for coronavirus.
Washington:
The United States is preparing to take additional measures against China, said the White House, but what presidential measures would be unspecified.
Relations between Washington and Beijing have deteriorated since the emergence of the new coronavirus. President Donald Trump has questioned the Asian giant’s release of COVID-19.
The two countries also argued over China’s imposition of a new national security law in Hong Kong, restrictions on American journalists, treatment of Uighur Muslims and security measures in Tibet.
“I’m not going to get ahead of the president on what our actions against China will be, but you will hear of some upcoming actions that concern China. So I can confirm this,” said the press secretary for the Maison- Blanche, Kayleigh McEnany. journalists Wednesday.
McEnany was responding to a question about recent statements by senior administration officials, including the White House chief of staff, the national security adviser and the secretary of state, suggesting that the president could take further action against China in the coming days.
US national security adviser Robert O’Brien told reporters on Wednesday that China had annexed Hong Kong, referring to the new security law for the former British colony.
“I think you are going to see a major deployment of measures against China in the coming days and weeks. There is no president who has ever resisted China like President Donald Trump. He has been the first president to put a huge tariff on the Chinese to stop the trade imbalance, “he said.
O’Brien said he spoke in Arizona two weeks ago about the Chinese Communist Party and the threat it poses to the United States.
FBI director Christopher Wray spoke a day earlier about the massive theft of Chinese intellectual property.
Referring to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s comments made last week, O’Brien said the president is taking a close look at TikTok, WeChat and some other apps that the Chinese government would use to get personal and private data from Americans.
“We are looking very closely at the applications,” said O’Brien, adding that the president had already said that Hong Kong would no longer be treated as a separate entity, that it would be treated as part of China.
“So there will be a number of regulations and a number of actions that will take place to implement the president’s vision,” he said.
He described Chinese actions in Hong Kong as one of the biggest stories of the decade.
“We have Hong Kong which is basically annexed by the People’s Republic of China, by the Chinese Communist Party, and they are imposing their will on free and democratic people and not only are they doing it in Hong Kong, but they are using this law from Hong Kong to try to impose their extraterritorial will, “he said.
“They will use the law, but they will also use their economic influence. So when the general manager of the Houston Rockets tweeted to support peaceful protesters in Hong Kong, the Chinese Communist Party said it would not broadcast games. rockets into China, and they bowed the NBA to China because – just because an American citizen supported free peaceful protests in Hong Kong, “he said.
“So what the Chinese Communist Party is doing is not just in Hong Kong. It affects you all. It affects the way we operate in the United States and we cannot let that happen,” said O ‘. Brien to journalists.
In a tweet, MP Matt Gaetz said the United States must be more resilient, diligent, and aware that China is an enemy.
“And we shouldn’t be helping the enemy by using the US dollar to support their businesses and operations in the United States,” he said.
