That's a head fake.But China's top trade negotiator began Monday by saying that the country "strongly opposes" the escalation of the trade war.
"We believe the trade war escalation is bad for China, bad for the United States and bad for the interest of the people in the world," said Chinese Vice Premier Liu He at a conference in Chongqing, China. "We are willing to use a calm attitude to solve problems by negotiations and cooperation." https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/25/intl_business/asian-market-latest/index.html