U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is set to talk to her Chinese counterpart He Lifeng this week in an attempt to repair relations between the two countries.
This will be a prelude to a gathering of 21 Pacific Rim nations in San Francisco for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit next week. It follows a number of diplomatic meetings between Chinese and U.S. officials, such as the recent trips Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) took to the country, all of which have been building toward the meeting between presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping at the APEC Summit.
In an op-ed published in the Washington Post Monday, Yellen outlined what will likely be her position during the meeting, which she wrote is “designed to further stabilize the relationship and make progress on key issues.”
Yellen went on to write that China and the U.S. “have an obligation to establish resilient lines of open communication and to prevent our disagreements from spiraling into conflict.” While believing that a stable trade relationship between the countries is desirable and necessary, Yellen plans to hold China to account.
“Healthy competition requires a rules-based, level playing field,” she argued. “This week, I will speak to my counterpart about our serious concerns with Beijing’s unfair economic practices, including its large-scale use of non-market tools, its barriers to market access and its coercive actions against U.S. firms in China.”
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will hold two days of meetings with her Chinese counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng, this week, as the U.S. and China look to improve communication between the world’s two largest economies.https://t.co/bbT7qGU1Vw
— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 6, 2023
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Tensions between the U.S. and China have been high ever since the China conducted its spy balloon operation across the American landscape to great national attention. Other factors have put strains on the two countries, such as repeated airborne harassment of U.S. planes and squabbles over the South China Sea.
The Pentagon recently published its annual report on China’s militaristic development, this time raising the alarm that its ambitions are slowly becoming a reality. By 2049, China wants to “reunify” with Taiwan and use its massive military to “rejuvenate” its empire.
The Biden administration’s messaging has been one of defense, claiming that the U.S. is only seeking to ensure its national security and is not trying to hinder China’s economy. China rejects this description, claiming that the U.S. is actively trying to thwart the Chinese economy through technology bans and export controls. In turn, the U.S. says these bans are meant to prevent China’s military from harnessing advanced AI tech, and are not intended to interfere with Chinese economic growth.
Yet the Biden administration has opted to keep Trump’s tariffs on China in place, and does not intend to lift them. The U.S. government does not plan to orchestrate a complete severance from China, but it has sought several ways to diversify its production and become less dependent on their factories.
China’s unfair market practices “have resulted in the overconcentration of the production of critical goods inside China,” Yellen wrote in her opinion piece. “The United States, along with our allies and partners, has been taking well-calibrated steps to mitigate this concentration by diversifying our critical supply chains.” The goal, she said, is not to sever ties with China but to create balance and stability in a “volatile world.”
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