After being called “unhinged” by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Li Chenggang, a senior Chinese trade negotiator, was dismissed from his position as China’s permanent representative to the World Trade Organization, according to official media on Monday.
In an interview with media source CNBC on Wednesday, Bessent said that Li had threatened that “China would unleash chaos on the global system if the US went ahead with our docking fees for Chinese ships” during a visit to Washington in August.
“Slightly unhinged” was how Bessent described his behavior.
China’s Xinhua news agency published on Monday a list of ambassadorial appointments and changes, including the removal of Li from his posting as the country’s permanent representative to the WTO.
When asked if this move was related to Bessent’s comments, Beijing’s foreign ministry told AFP that “this is a routine personnel change”.
Li remains China’s international trade representative and vice minister of commerce.
According to a statement from China’s commerce ministry, he urged “equal dialogue and consultation” between the two countries while leading a Chinese group to Washington for trade negotiations in August.
In an effort to prevent their tariff dispute from getting worse, the two largest economies in the world, China and the United States, decided over the weekend to have another round of trade talks next week.
In response to Beijing’s announcement this month of broad restrictions on the vital rare earths sector, US President Donald Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs on Chinese imports.
Tit-for-tat port fees also took effect last week after Beijing announced “special port fees” on US ships arriving at Chinese ports, following a similar move by the United States announced in April.
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