Anchor: As tensions escalate in the U.S.-China COVID-19 blame game, an American think tank has projected that China will not be able to make good on its promise to increase purchases of American products under their "phase one" trade deal. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has been rejecting the idea of renegotiating the deal with Beijing.
Choi You Sun reports.

Report: The U.S.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies(CSIS) has forecast China to purchase 60 billion dollars worth of U.S. exports this year, far short of the 186-point-six billion dollars worth of goods the two sides agreed to in their "phase one" trade deal.

The targets made in the January deal were "never realistic," according to Scott Kennedy, senior advisor at the American think tank, who said the demand decline in China due to the coronavirus pandemic "made the unrealistic the impossible."

Under the deal, China agreed to buy an additional 200 billion dollars in U.S. goods and services by 2021, on top of 2017 levels.

The U.S. Trade Representative said China is obligated to spend 290 billion dollars this year on U.S. goods and services exports, and another 330 billion dollars next year.

At a town hall meeting with Fox News earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump warned he could end the agreement unless China lived up to its commitment.

On Monday, Trump said he was not interested in renegotiating the deal after China's state-run Global Times reported that some government advisers were urging fresh talks and the possibility of invalidating the deal.

The daily added that the Trump administration's assertions that COVID-19 came from a laboratory in Wuhan, China sparked a "tsunami of anger" within the Chinese government.

Adding fuel to the fire, U.S. media outlets reported that Washington was preparing to issue a warning about hackers linked to the Chinese government attempting to steal COVID-19 vaccine and treatment-related information from the United States.
Choi You Sun, KBS World Radio News.