Chinese State-Run Paper Singles Out Navarro for Trade ‘Lies’

(Bloomberg) --

The Chinese Communist Party’s flagship newspaper took aim at one of Washington’s most prominent China hawks, calling recent comments by Peter Navarro unconstructive “lies” that hinder the progress of trade talks.

Navarro, an adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, repeated accusations he’s previously termed China’s “seven deadly sins” during a Sunday interview with Yahoo Finance -- including alleged cyberattacks, forced technology transfers and currency manipulation. He also said China is taking on the “full burden” of U.S. tariffs on its products.

“All these preposterous comments are not constructive at all, and go against the larger direction of the two sides taking real action to create favorable conditions for the negotiations,” Beijing’s state-run People’s Daily wrote in a commentary Tuesday. Navarro intended to “throw cold water on international markets,” it said.

Those “irresponsible” comments should stop, and the U.S. should show “sincerity” and “action” to create condition for the negotiations, the paper said.

China and the U.S. will hold face-to-face trade negotiations in Washington in the coming weeks, after a deterioration in relations last month left global investors reeling amid increasing evidence the conflict is harming both nations. The U.S. Agriculture Department’s undersecretary for trade, Ted McKinney, also used provocative language on Monday, calling Chinese President Xi Jinping a “communist zealot."

“It is important for both China and the United States to grasp the opportunity of stabilizing bilateral trade and economic ties,” the People’s Daily commentary said, adding that the two countries should work together in the direction set by their leaders.

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Miao Han in Beijing at mhan22@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeffrey Black at jblack25@bloomberg.net, Sharon Chen, Karen Leigh

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With assistance from Bloomberg