A South Korean major newspaper, “Chosun Ilbo,” has captured photos of a Chinese delegation entering the U.S. Department of the Treasury, confirming the “behind-the-scenes contact” as mentioned by President Trump. Chinese officials requested the deletion of the photos.
According to the report by “Chosun Ilbo” on Friday, around 7 am on Thursday, a senior official from the Chinese Ministry of Finance, accompanied by about 10 people, entered the U.S. Department of the Treasury headquarters adjacent to the White House in Washington D.C.
The report did not confirm the specific identity of the official, but it published a photo of the Chinese official with the face blurred out. They were all wearing ID cards required for the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting held in Washington D.C.
This aligns with the identification worn by the South Korean Vice Premier and Minister of Planning and Finance, Choi Sang-mook, during his visit to the U.S. and meeting with the Chinese Finance Minister, Lu Feng’an.
The South Korean newspaper added that Chinese officials strongly prevented the media from taking photos of the senior officials entering the U.S. Department of the Treasury building that morning.
Chinese officials stated, “We do not have the authority to obstruct press freedom,” but “we have the right to refuse the photographing of our personnel.” They then requested the media to delete all photos taken with mobile phones of the officials.
When the media requested identification, they were refused by the Chinese officials, with the official stating, “I am not obligated to disclose my identity.” However, the identification card he wore displayed the name, photo, and nationality as “China.”
The South Korean media mentioned that the China-U.S. “Treasury Department talks” should have taken place before the South Korea-U.S. talks. According to the day’s schedule, South Korean Vice Premier Choi Sang-mook and Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ahn Deok-geun, conducted a “2+2 trade negotiation” with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Thursday morning.
“Chosun Ilbo” cited a diplomatic source saying, “The financial channels between China and the U.S. have actually started operating, meaning that both countries have reached a critical point under the current retaliatory tariff measures, both domestically and internationally,” predicting that “the outcome of the behind-the-scenes negotiations between the two sides may become a significant turning point in the trade war.”
Regarding why China is secretive about this contact, the source stated, “Because this trade war is a battle of prestige, with both country leaders directly involved, it may not be easy to establish a ‘win-win’ situation.”
He further added, “The fact that Chinese officials personally visited the U.S. Department of the Treasury may be an extremely sensitive issue for Beijing.”
On Thursday, President Trump dismissed Beijing’s claims that the two countries had not held talks yet. “They had a meeting this morning,” Trump told the media on Thursday, without disclosing which officials were present.
“The specifics of ‘who they are’ are not important. We may reveal it later, but they had a meeting this morning, and we have been in talks with the Chinese as well,” the president added.
The U.S. government has repeatedly stated that direct contacts have been ongoing daily recently, but China stated earlier on Thursday that there had been no trade negotiations with Washington.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun called these claims “fake news” during a press briefing.
Subsequently, foreign journalists inquired whether there were plans for the Chinese Minister of Finance and the Chinese Central Bank Governor, who were attending the International Monetary Fund meeting in Washington, to meet with U.S. government officials. Guo Jiakun suggested that the media inquire with the relevant departments.
On Friday, as President Trump prepared to depart for Rome, he was once again asked by reporters if he had talked with Chinese leader Xi Jinping after the tariff increase. The president stated that he did not want to comment on this but mentioned he had spoken with Xi multiple times.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson reiterated on Friday that there had never been any negotiations or talks with the U.S., labeling the reports as “fake news.”