US President Donald Trump has said that China’s telecom giant Huawei, which has been targeted by the Americans, could be included in a US-China trade deal.
Earlier, the Chinese foreign minister had censured Washington for bullying the private-sector Chinese firm.
Trump said on Thursday that the restrictions imposed on Huawei might be removed if the two countries were to reach a trade agreement.
"If we made a deal, I could imagine Huawei being possibly included in some form or some part of it," he said.
Last week, Washington effectively banned US firms from doing business with Huawei, citing national security concerns.
On Thursday, China's Commerce Ministry reacted to the Americans' bullying of Chinese firms.
"If the United States wants to continue trade talks, they should show sincerity and correct their wrong actions. Negotiations can only continue on the basis of equality and mutual respect," spokesman Gao Feng told a weekly briefing. "We will closely monitor relevant developments and prepare necessary responses," he said, without elaborating.
Meanwhile, Trump’s trade war on China remains in high gear. The US president hiked tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods on May 10 and threatened to slap tariffs of up to 25% on an additional list of Chinese imports worth about $300 billion, prompting China to respond with levies of its own.
The trade war heated up after trade talks aimed at ending the dispute evaded the last round of marathon bilateral negotiations on May 10.
The US claimed the trade talks tanked after China tried to delete commitments from a draft agreement that its laws would be changed to enact new policies on issues from intellectual property protection to forced technology transfers.
Meanwhile, Trump boasted about how the tariffs on Chinese imports were hurting China's economy, while rewarding the American side in terms of economic dividends.
“They’re getting killed with the tariffs, China’s getting totally killed,” he said in an interview with Fox News aired on Sunday.