Andrew Yang: Not all aspects of China behavior should be viewed as threat

Presidential hopeful Andrew Yang on Tuesday said that not all aspects of China’s behavior towards the United States should be considered a threat, saying the country is in the midst of an economic boom.

“There are aspects of Chinese behavior that are deeply problematic — their piracy of intellectual property,” Yang told Hill.TV in response to a question in if China should be viewed as a threat.

“They have taken advantage of frameworks to their own benefit and we haven’t had some of the same benefits,” the entrepreneur said.

“But China is in the midst of a historic increase in prosperity and that is something America should not be threatened by at all,” he added.

Yang’s comments come as the U.S. and China after talks broke down in May to end their ongoing trade war.

President Trump said Tuesday that Chinese President Xi Jinping has agreed to an “extended meeting” next week at the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan.

“Had a very good telephone conversation with President Xi of China. We will be having an extended meeting next week at the G-20 in Japan. Our respective teams will begin talks prior to our meeting,” he tweeted.

Even though Trump has repeatedly touted a strong relationship with Xi, he has long accused the country of “ripping off” U.S. companies through unfair trade practices, including stealing intellectual property and unfairly subsidizing its companies.

Trump raised tariffs on $200 billion worth in Chinese imports and threatened an additional $300 billion in goods if Xi refused to meet with him at the G-20 Summit. Beijing responded in kind, placing tariffs on $60 billion in U.S. goods.

The two leaders’ last face-to-face meeting took place at last year’s G-20 Summit in Argentina.

Yang is one of a number of Democratic hopefuls trying to gain traction in the polls. He will be one of 20 participants in the first Democratic debates at the end of the month.

— Tess Bonn