If the trade war between China and the United States is a game of high-stakes brinkmanship, it is currently a game that Beijing is not willing to play.

如果说中美贸易战是一场高风险的边缘政策游戏，那么目前来看，北京并不愿意参与这场游戏。

Faced with growing claims by President Trump and administration officials that the two countries are engaged in talks and that a deal could be reached in a matter of weeks, China’s Foreign Ministry pushed back forcefully on Friday by posting on X: “China and the U.S. are NOT having any consultation or negotiation. The U.S. should stop creating confusion.”

特朗普总统和政府官员不断声称两国正在进行谈判，几周内就可能达成协议，面对这种说法，中国外交部上周五在X上发贴强烈反驳：“中美双方并没有就关税问题进行磋商或谈判，更谈不上达成协议。美方应停止制造混乱。”

The post came hours after a foreign ministry spokesman, Guo Jiakun, said the United States was “misleading the public.” A day earlier, Mr. Guo called the rumors of talks “fake news.”

在上述帖子发出前的几小时，中国外交部发言人郭嘉昆表示，美国正在“混淆视听”。郭嘉昆在一天前把有关谈判的报道称为“假消息”。

The response was the latest sign that China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, intends to hold firm in his standoff with Mr. Trump, sensing that his position is strengthening. Beijing is betting that it can stomach the pain of a trade war better than the Trump administration can because of U.S. political pressure and volatility on Wall Street, analysts say.

这一回应是最新的迹象，表明中国最高领导人习近平打算在与特朗普的对峙中坚持强硬立场，因为习近平意识到自己的地位正在增强。分析人士称，因为美国的政治压力和华尔街的动荡，中国政府在赌自己比特朗普政府更能承受贸易战的痛苦。

“The Chinese are not eager to climb down the ladder,” said Yun Sun, the director of the China program at the Stimson Center in Washington. “They see Trump as wanting to climb down and are happy to let him stew in his own juice.”

“中国人并不急着找台阶下，”华盛顿史汀生中心的中国项目主任孙韵说。“他们看出特朗普想找台阶下，而且很高兴让他自作自受。”

Ms. Sun said Beijing will not come to the negotiation table without any U.S. concessions or a good-will gesture. That could include scaling back tariffs, or making clear that Mr. Trump is reaching out to Mr. Xi first.

孙韵表示，中国政府不会坐到谈判桌前，除非美国先做出让步或善意姿态，这可能包括降低目前的关税，或明确表示是特朗普首先与习近平进行接触。

“Beijing has the upper hand, why bother to reach out?” Ms. Sun said. “If the U.S. wants to talk, it will have to pay a price.”

“北京占了上风，为什么要费力去接触呢？”孙韵说。“如果美国想谈判，它就必须付出代价。”

In an interview with Time magazine published on Friday, Mr. Trump said that Mr. Xi had called him and that the two were trying to strike a tariff deal.

在《时代》杂志上周五发表的采访中，特朗普称习近平已给他打了电话，两人正在努力就关税问题达成协议。

“I don’t think that’s a sign of weakness on his behalf,” Mr. Trump said of Mr. Xi’s call, according to the article.

据该文报道，特朗普在谈到习近平给自己打电话时说，“我不认为那是他软弱的表现。”

China has not said that Mr. Xi has spoken to Mr. Trump since a call they held on Jan. 17, three days before Mr. Trump’s inauguration.

习近平曾在特朗普举行就职典礼三天前，也就是今年1月17日，与特朗普通电话。自那以后，中国一直没有表示过习近平与特朗普通过电话。

It is not the first time Mr. Trump has claimed to have spoken to the Chinese leader since returning to the White House. In February, he told the Fox News host Bret Baier in an interview that he and Mr. Xi had spoken sometime after the Jan. 17 call.

自从特朗普重返白宫后，这不是他第一次声称与中国领导人通了电话。今年2月，他在接受福克斯新闻主持人布雷特·拜尔采访时曾说，他在1月17日后的某个时候与习近平通了电话。

China, which has imposed its own jaw-dropping tariffs on U.S. goods in retaliation, has repeatedly said that it is open to trade negotiations, but that it would not do so under duress. The United States needs to treat China with respect, officials have said, adding that Beijing is willing to “fight to the end” if necessary.

中国已采取反制措施，对美国进口商品征收令人震惊的关税，并多次表示，中国愿意进行贸易谈判，但不会在胁迫之下这样做。中国官员称，美国需要尊重中国，并表示，如美国想打贸易战的话，中国愿意“奉陪到底”。

China’s tough posture reflects Mr. Xi’s need to project a strongman image against the Trump administration. The Chinese leader sees himself as a transformational figure restoring glory to his country in the face of Western bullying, namely by the United States.

中国的强硬姿态反映出，习近平需要塑造一个强人形象来对抗特朗普政府。这名中国领导人把自己视为一个变革型人物，面对西方（也就是美国）的霸凌，他要实现自己国家的伟大复兴。

Unlike during the first Trump administration, China believes it is better prepared to fight back in a trade war because of an array of new economic tools like export controls. Earlier this month, in response to a new round of U.S. tariffs, China restricted American access to critical rare earth materials needed to produce missiles, batteries and semiconductors. China dominates the market for rare earth elements, while attempts by the United States to find alternative sources are still years from bearing fruit.

与特朗普上次担任总统时不同，中国认为自己在这轮贸易战中为反击做了更好的准备，因为政府手中有出口管制等一系列新的经济手段。为应对美国的一轮新关税，中国已在本月早些时候限制向出口美国稀土产品，这些产品对生产导弹、电池，以及半导体至关重要。中国主导着世界稀土元素市场，而美国寻找替代来源的努力仍需数年才能见成效。

“Beijing considers its control over rare earth minerals to be a crucial component of its arsenal in the trade war with the U.S.,” said Eswar Prasad, an economist focused on international trade at Cornell University. “Beijing knows well that restricting access to these minerals would severely disrupt U.S. high-tech manufacturing, causing significant pain to the more dynamic parts of the U.S. manufacturing sector.”

“中国政府认为，自己对稀土矿产的控制是与美国打贸易战的关键武器，”康奈尔大学专门研究国际贸易的经济学家埃斯瓦尔·普拉萨德说。“北京非常清楚，限制美国获得这些矿产的能力将严重扰乱美国的高技术制造业，给美国制造业中更具活力的部分带来巨大痛苦。”

A prolonged trade war would test Mr. Xi’s leadership by inflicting serious pain on the Chinese economy, which has already been hobbled by a property crisis and weak consumer confidence. Exports remain one of the only engines of growth for China, and the United States is the country’s largest single export market.

一场旷日持久的贸易战将给中国经济带来沉重打击，这会让习近平的领导地位受到检验。中国经济已经因房地产危机和消费者信心低迷而步履蹒跚。出口仍是中国经济增长的少数引擎之一，美国是中国最大的单一出口市场。

In a sign that China may already be feeling the sting of the trade war, the Chinese government is apparently considering whether to exclude some essential products from its retaliatory 125 percent tariffs on American goods, including lifesaving drugs and other health-care products, according to the American Chamber of Commerce in China.

中国也许已经感受到了贸易战的冲击，中国美国商会称，中国政府似乎正在考虑是否将一些必需品排除在对美国商品征收的125%报复性关税之外，包括挽救生命的药品和其他医疗产品。