US State Department revises China webpage to focus on trade, business curbs

Adds State Department, paragraph 5

By Laurie Chen

BEIJING, Feb 20 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department has changed references to China on its website, emphasising the trade deficit in an expanded section on economic ties, while dropping talk of working with allies and assistance to China on cultural and environmental issues.

The February 13 changes underscore the new administration's focus on trade and other priorities after removing a phrase last week from the department's Taiwan fact sheet about not supporting the island's independence, which angered Beijing.

China's economy is "one of the most restrictive investment climates in the world", read the expanded section on economic ties that highlighted the U.S-China trade deficit and U.S. businesses' concerns on the challenges of operating in China.

"China also engages in unfair trade practices, including using forced labor and massive state subsidies, putting American businesses at a disadvantage, and making them complicit in China's human rights abuses," the webpage read.

A spokesperson for the State Department said "the China fact sheet on state.gov was updated to reflect the current Administration’s policies and priorities as they relate to China and the U.S.-China relationship."

The U.S. embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Responding to a query on the changes, a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry described them as "distorting facts and slandering China's foreign policy, and hyping up so-called China-U.S. strategic competition".

Guo Jiakun, the spokesperson, added, "China is strongly dissatisfied with this."

The changes come after U.S. President Donald Trump slapped an additional tariff of 10% on all imports from China, saying it failed to halt fentanyl trafficking. He plans further reciprocal tariffs on all nations that limit U.S. access to their markets.

The State Department also dropped the phrase "People's Republic of China (PRC)" from its country fact sheet on China, opting instead for "China".

The site also features new language on countering Chinese cyber activity against U.S. government bodies and critical infrastructure networks as well as efforts to obtain U.S. cutting-edge technology for military purposes.

It emphasises the need to rebuild the U.S. industrial base and shore up its lead in artificial intelligence.

An expanded section on China's role in international bodies accuses the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of attempting to "manipulate and subvert" such bodies as the United Nations.

It seeks to "groom and install CCP members in leadership and other positions," the section adds.

The site skips previous mention of "(working) closely with our allies and partners to defend our interests and values", saying instead that Washington will "follow the principles of reciprocity and fairness" in ties with China.

It also drops a section on U.S. assistance to China that listed programmes for preserving Tibetan culture, environmental protection, human rights and combating drug trafficking.

The omissions come as Trump embarks on a massive programme to reshape the U.S. government, by attempting to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and suspending foreign assistance.

'PRC' AND 'CHINA'

The Biden administration routinely referred to the country by the abbreviation "PRC" for its official name, the People's Republic of China.

Wen-Ti Sung, fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub, believes that the revised language seems to "drive a hard bargain by raising complaints on economic policy issues" but also represents U.S. softening on fundamental matters core to the Chinese ruling party's interests, namely regime security.

China has thousands of years of history. But the People's Republic of China was established in 1949 after Mao Zedong's Communist forces won a bloody civil war against the Republic of China, whose government fled to the island of Taiwan.

"This shift in wording may entail that China's current political system ought to be considered the default setting for China, rather than just a temporary phenomenon for a particular moment in time," said Sung.

"This shift may be Washington's signal to reassure Beijing that the U.S. does not intend to challenge the Chinese Communist Party's rule."

The three U.S.-China joint communiques issued between 1972 and 1982 that form the basis of diplomatic relations use both terms, "PRC" and "China", to refer to Beijing.

The United States has acknowledged the Chinese position that there is only one China and that Taiwan is part of China, but officially takes no position on Taiwan's sovereignty under Washington's "One China" policy.