U.S. President Donald Trump claimed at the G7 summit in France this week that China had initiated a phone call recently seeking a resumption of trade talks with Washington.<br />Beijing, however, has come out with a strong denial, insisting no such conversations took place during that period.<br />It also took the opportunity to blast the Trump administration, accusing it of "bullying" China with its aggressive tariff policy.<br />Oh Soo-young reports.<br />China's Foreign Ministry says it's "unaware" that any phone calls took place between Washington and Beijing over the weekend,... as U.S. President Donald Trump claimed in France.<br />This rebuttal came a day after Trump said on Monday,... at the end of the G7 summit,... that China had called top U.S. trade officials,... asking to resume talks on a trade deal.<br />Trump then expressed optimism a deal would soon be reached.<br />U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also said there'd been contact between the two sides but did not specify with whom.<br />China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a press conference Tuesday that he has not heard of any phone calls made between the two governments regarding their trade spat.<br />Instead, he criticized the Trump administration for increasing tariffs on China's exports to the U.S.,... calling it a measure of "extreme pressure" that is not constructive and "purely harmful" to both sides.<br />After Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed at the G20 meeting in June to restart talks on hammering out a trade deal,... the U.S. appeared to break the ceasefire this month by upping tariffs on Chinese imports.<br />Beijing retaliated by slapping duties on some 75-billion dollars worth of U.S. goods.<br />Geng said Tuesday that China hopes the U.S. will (quote) return to rationality and stop its wrong practices.<br />China's state-run Xinhua News Agency also said in a commentary that what it views as "bullying and maximum pressure" from the U.S. will not be effective,... and that China will not surrender to Washington's irrational demands.<br />Oh Soo-young, Arirang News.<br />
