BUSINESS/CHINA/TECHNOLOGY/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “As the United States and China spar over trade, both sides are using a beleagured Chinese telecom company as a pawn in a geopolitical game, a strategy that could yield concessions in talks this week in Washington. Mr. Trump’s offer to throw a lifeline to the company, ZTE, found a receptive audience in Beijing on Monday [5-14-18], a development that could help him strike deals on thorny issues like trade and North Korea. Liu He, a Chinese vice premier, was due in Washington for negotiations beginning on Tuesday [5-15-18] aimed at resolving the simmering trade conflict between the two countries. It was not clear whether the offer and the visit were connected, but Chinese officials welcomed Mr. Trump’s tweet on Sunday [5-14-18] saying he would look for ways to help ZTE…The United States government threatened the continued existence of ZTE as a business last month, when the Commerce Department ordered a seven-year halt in American shipments of computer microchips and software that lie at the heart of most of ZTE’s gear…Mr. Trump did not say on Sunday what, if anything, the United States might get in return for its offer to help ZTE. But the Chinese reaction underscored the importance that Beijing has placed on ZTE’s survival, and the company’s travails have encapsulated the worries among Chinese leaders that their country depends too much on American technology.”
-Keith Bradsher, “China Welcomes Trump’s Help on ZTE as Trade Talks Loom,” The New York Times online, May 14, 2018