Beijing will honour trade commitments, Chinese ambassador to US says

A top Chinese diplomat said Beijing would honour its commitments under the phase one trade deal that was soon to be signed between Beijing and Washington, even as he criticised talk of a new Cold War as "very irresponsible".

In an interview with state broadcaster, CGTN, Cui Tiankai, Chinese ambassador to Washington, said: "We will always implement what we promised. There is no problem with that."

"And if there are any differences, any problems, the two sides should work closely together to solve them," Cui added.

According to the South China Morning Post, in his interview, Cui also referred specifically to America's "vows" regarding Taiwan.

He was speaking before the next elections on the island, scheduled for 11 January.

"The bottom line [on the Taiwan issue] is the one-China principle. There is only one China in the world. Both Taiwan and the Chinese mainland are part of China. China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity should not be violated," he reportedly said.

Echoing some of his recent speeches, Cui also criticised what he described as the policy hawks on Capitol Hill, whom he said were talking about or even advocating a new cold war, decoupling and scientific wars between the two countries.

"Cooperation is the only choice that we should make," Cui said.

In a speech on 4 December, Cui had reportedly also said that Beijing did not have the slightest interest in pursuing hegemony either in its region of the world nor globally.