Photo: Guardian

US President renewing his threat to cut ties with China, despite his top US trade negotiator, said severing the trade relationship was not a viable option.

Iran PressAmerica: Donald Trump has renewed his threat to cut ties with China, a day after his diplomats held high-level talks with Beijing and his top US trade negotiator said severing the trade relationship was not a viable option.

The conflicting stances emerged as Washington questioned China’s credibility on accurately reporting the new COVID-19 cluster in Beijing.

Trump wrote on social media: "The US certainly does maintain a policy option, under various conditions, of a complete decoupling from China. Thank you!”.

The development comes amid multiple points of friction between the world’s two largest economies, including trade, China’s moves to impose new security legislation on Hong Kong and the Coronavirus.

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China warns the US about meddling in its Hong Kong policy

On Thursday the US questioned China’s credibility on reporting fresh Coronavirus cases in Beijing and called for neutral observers to assess the extent of the outbreak.

China has locked down parts of the capital as it seeks to prevent a second wave of COVID-19, reporting 158 cases since a fresh cluster was detected last week.

Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to cut ties with China, where the outbreak began late last year, over its role in the spread of COVID-19, and has repeatedly made unproven allegations that the virus originated in a Chinese lab. 207

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