The limits of détente

U.S.–China tensions persist despite a 90-day tariff truce. Beijing warns of legal consequences over Huawei chips and calls for a return to multilateralism.

Welcome back to What’s Happening in China, your weekly China brief.

On Wednesday, the PRC’s Ministry of Commerce accused the U.S. of “abusing export controls to contain and suppress China.” It said Washington’s actions “violate international law and basic norms governing international relations,” and amount to “discriminatory restrictive measures” targeting Chinese companies.

This came in response to Washington’s warning last week that any company using artificial intelligence chips made by Huawei would be considered in violation of U.S. export controls.

The Ministry added that “any organization or individual that implements or assists in the implementation of the US measures will be suspected of violating the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law of the People's Republic of China and other laws and regulations and must bear corresponding legal responsibilities.”

(If you want to dive deeper into the PRC’s invocation of the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law,

Geopolitechs

has more here.)

On Monday, the PRC had already ac…