 "Chinese trade negotiator Li Chenggang. Image Credit Reuters.")
The Chinese permanent representative to the World Trade Organisation, Li Chenggang who is the Senior Chinese trade negotiator has been removed from his post, as reported by the state media on Monday.
The US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described him as “unhinged.” Bessent also said in an interview with media outlet CNBC on Wednesday that Li, during a visit to Washington in August, had allegedly threatened that “China would unleash chaos on the global system if the US went ahead with our docking fees for Chinese ships.”
China’s Xinhua news agency published on Monday a list of changes and appointments stating the removal of Li from the post of the permanent representative of WTO. When asked about this removal, Beijing’s foreign ministry told AFP that “this is a routine personnel change”.
The negotiation deal came between the US and China after agreeing over the conduct of trade round negotiations amid the escalating tariff war between the two nations.
After the rift between rare earth, Trump imposed a 100 per cent tariff on Chinese imports igniting the trade tensions. The retaliation by the US, created a tit-for-tat situation impacting the relations between world’s two biggest economies.
(With inputs from AFP)