Ambassador Liu： I think the negotiators are still very much occupied with the details。 I do not have the details。 Even if I had， I would have to be cautious。 I don‘t want to interrupt the process。 But I think the tariffs might be one of the very important issues， based on my understanding of the negotiations。 Because the trade war started with the tariffs， it should be ended with removing all the tariffs imposed by the other side， because it is not in the spirit of free trade。 So we do hope that we can clinch the phase one deal sooner， so that we can move on to phase two and phase three。

Weisbach： What one is hearing is that intellectual property rights are also at the center of that debate or the negotiations。 Would China be in a position to compromise a bit in that stance？

Ambassador Liu： China has made great efforts in the past 40 years since the reform and opening up in terms of improving the intellectual property right。 First， I would say people should recognize the tremendous progress that China has made in this respect。 Number two， we also realize that we need to do more。 As I always say， the largest room in the world is the room for improvement。 So no country is perfect， but we are serious about addressing the concerns of other countries， including the United States。 That is the second point I want to make。

Third， I don‘t think resorting to war of words， accusing each other， is helpful at all。 Some politicians criticize China for so-called “stealing technology” from the United States。 I think they have a wrong impression。 China’s miracle is not built on theft of other countries’ property。 It’s built by the hard working people of China in the past 70 years。 So I think you really have to address this issue in sincerity and try to tackle this problem with honesty， sincerity， rather than accusing China of so called stealing。 That will be helpful for the two sides to work on this important issue。

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