China issues travel alert for US, blasts ‘interference’

BEIJING — A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman has lashed out against what he said were efforts to interfere in the country’s internal affairs.

The harsh comments by Geng Shuang at a routine briefing on Tuesday followed the government’s announcement of a travel alert for the United States.

The warning said Chinese visitors had been interrogated, interviewed and subjected to other forms of what it called harassment by U.S. law enforcement agencies.

Geng reiterated Chinese complaints that U.S. is responsible for a stalemate in negotiations over trade and technology issues that resulted in both sides raising tariffs on each other’s products.

Geng said that “twists and turns in the China-U.S. trade consultations were caused by the U.S.’s flip-flops, violation of consensus, and bad faith,” and that “Adding tariffs will not make the U.S. great again, but hurt the country.”

Earlier, the U.S. Trade Representative and Treasury Department issued a statement defending Washington’s strategy in its trade dispute with Beijing.

The statement seen on the USTR’s website Tuesday said the U.S. was “disappointed” by a report China issued over the weekend that accused the American side of backtracking in negotiations.

The two sides are in a stalemate after 11 rounds of talks over trade and technology issues that have led to both sides raising tariffs, among other retaliatory measures.

The U.S. statement accused Beijing of playing a “blame game” and misconstruing the nature and background of the trade dispute.

It said, “President Trump is committed to taking action to address the unfair trade practices that China has engaged in for decades, which have contributed to persistent and unsustainable trade deficits.”