China calls on US to remove ‘obstacles’ to stronger military ties

Chinese officials urged the U.S. to take action to improve military relations between the countries as they continue to spar over trade and other issues, Reuters reported Thursday.

Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang blamed the U.S. for ongoing tensions and said at a monthly briefing that “provocative” flights by the U.S. military over the South China Sea were particularly troubling.

“The United States is to blame for the present problem, so the United States must immediately correct its mistakes, and withdraw the so-called sanctions to dispel obstacles that interfere in the healthy development of relations between the two militaries,” Ren said.

{mosads}Ren suggested that Chinese Defense Minister We Fenghe may scrap his planned visit to the U.S. later this year, Reuters reported.

President Trump ratcheted up tensions between the two countries on Wednesday when he alleged during a United Nations Security Council meeting that China was interfering in the 2018 U.S. election in an effort to hurt his administration.

While he did not cite specifics at the time, Trump later tweeted photos of Chinese ads purchased in the Des Moines Register that were made to look like an editorial section criticizing his trade policies.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who sat near Trump at a round table inside the Security Council chamber, denied the president’s assertions later in the meeting.

“We did not and will not interfere in any country’s domestic affairs. We refuse to accept any unwarranted accusations against China,” Wang said through a translator.

The world’s top two economies have been locked in a trade dispute in recent months, exchanging billions of dollars worth of tariffs on the other country’s goods.

Trump last week placed additional duties on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, prompting China to levy billions of dollars worth of tariffs on U.S goods.

The president has insisted that the tariffs are necessary to secure a better trade deal for the U.S., even as lawmakers have warned that the policy could hurt American workers and consumers.