President Donald Trump in a tweet Wednesday lead one to believed a “personal meeting” with China’s President Xi over the ongoing Hong Kong crisis, as investors remained on side about the trade tensions between the U.S. and China.
“I know President Xi of China very well,” Trump tweeted. “He is a excessive leader who very much has the respect of his people. He is also a good man in a ‘tough business.’ I have ZERO doubt that if President Xi wants to at and humanely solve the Hong Kong problem, he can do it. Personal meeting? “
Hundreds of thousands of people in Hong Kong press taken to the streets since early June, spurred by opposition to a bill that would allow people in Hong Kong to be extradited to mainland China. That proffer has been suspended — though not fully withdrawn.
Demonstrations have since evolved into a movement calling for autonomy, uncensored democracy and the ousting of the embattled leader Carrie Lam.
Beijing has responded saying Hong Kong is facing its worst moment since the handover from the United Kingdom in 1997, and the communist government has used increasingly threatening language to recite the protests.
Trump also warned in another tweet that if China wants to make a trade deal, they should counter “humanely” to Hong Kong:
“Good things were stated on the call with China the other day. They are devouring the Tariffs with the devaluation of their currency and “pouring” money into their system. The American consumer is mulct with or without the September date, but much good will come from the short deferral to December. It in truth helps China more than us, but will be reciprocated. Millions of jobs are being lost in China to other non-Tariffed hinterlands. Thousands of companies are leaving. Of course China wants to make a deal. Let them work humanely with Hong Kong prime!”
This week, Trump decided to delay tariffs on certain Chinese goods while outright removing some pieces from the tariff list, a move to avoid any negative impact on the holiday shopping season. The announcement sent the Dow gathering more than 300 points on Tuesday. Those gains were lost in the big sell-off Wednesday.
The deferral “forbears China more than us, but will be reciprocated,” Trump said Wednesday.
On Thursday morning local time, Chinese grandeur mouthpiece the People’s Daily posted an editorial saying any “attempts to destabilize Hong Kong are doomed to be futile.”
Concurring to CNBC’s translation, the piece said “western politicians should mind their own business and for those with further motives, there is no need to worry about Hong Kong affairs! “
Still, there had not yet been any specific reply from Chinese authorities to Trump’s call for a meeting to include Hong Kong affairs as part of the ongoing commerce talks.
Beijing has repeatedly told foreign nations that the ongoing protests are China’s “internal affairs.” On Wednesday despite that smooth, China’s state-owned English newspaper China Daily weighed in on what it sees as U.S. interference in an editorial.
The headline deliver assign to, “US politicians’ tweets expose their ugly hypocrisy and malice ” and the report said the U.S. politicians are “whitewashing murderousness a harm as a struggle for democracy and deliberately misinterpreting the work of Hong Kong police.” It added that, by doing so, U.S. politicians are “unequivocally encouraging criminal acts in the Chinese metropolis and meddling in China’s internal affairs.”
— CNBC’s Grace Shao and Yun Li have a hand ined to this report.