US President Donald Trump on Tuesday congratulated Chinese President Xi Jinping and his countrymen on the 70th anniversary of the Communist regime in the country but with a vow to prevail in the trade war and berating Beijing for not accepting an earlier drafted deal.
"Congratulations to President Xi and the Chinese people on the 70th Anniversary of the People's Republic of China!" the President tweeted today.
Trump, a day before, had taken a jibe at China that appeared to have been prompted by a morning appearance on the Fox Business Network by author and China expert Jonathan Ward, who said that the US was waking up to Beijing's plans to "surpass [the US] as the dominant, economic and military superpower in the 21st century".
"After many years, the United States is finally waking up to Beijing's plans and ambitions to pass us as the dominant economic & military superpower in the 21st Century. What's happening now is that the U.S. is finally responding (thank you, President Trump). This is taking.........place in TRADE, it's taking shape in Military Competition.' Johnathan Ward, author, and China expert. We are winning, and we will win. They should not have broken the deal we had with them. Happy Birthday, China!" the President had tweeted on Monday.
Trump roughly quoted Ward in his Monday tweet when the author said Washington's response to China's growing power was "taking shape in trade, it's taking shape in military competition and it's going to start potentially taking place in financial markets".
Trump's birthday message to China came as negotiators from Beijing prepare to travel to Washington for high-level talks to resolve a confrontation that began over a year ago and has seen most goods that flow between the two countries subject to punitive and retaliatory tariffs, South China Morning Post reported.
Trump's tweet referred to US negotiators' disclosure earlier this year that a deal was "90 per cent" complete before talks broke down. Washington has accused Beijing of reneging on several critical components of what was an evolving agreement.
Beijing rejected the accusations, saying it was entitled to continue negotiating any terms before a deal was signed.
Trump's frustrations over the dismantled trade talks were once again reflected after he posted a map of China on Twitter and wrote: "Try to impeach this."
( With inputs from ANI )