US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen arrived in the Chinese capital on Thursday, beginning a four-day visit that is expected to focus on easing ties between the world’s two largest economies, despite low expectations from both parties.
Yellen received a quiet welcome from a Chinese Finance Ministry official and the US envoy to China Nicholas Burns as she stepped off a government plane just after a storm brought some relief to sweltering Beijing.
However, both sides are skeptical that Yellen’s visit could ease ties between the United States and China, and officials agree that both countries have placed protecting national security above economic ties.
“I wouldn’t call it Janet Yellen unwelcome, but China can’t just swallow all the poison pills and keep smiling,” said Wang Huiyao, president of a think tank, the Center for China and Globalization.
Before Yellen’s visit, Chinese analysts told state media that her April speech, in which she called protecting the national security interests of the United States and its allies as the key pillar of her economic policy with China, it did not inspire optimism.
Zhu Feng, a professor of international relations at Nanjing University, told the Global Times newspaper that Yellen’s emphasis on national security meant the United States was unlikely to stop China’s “economic and technological repression.”
Yellen will stress the need to work with Beijing on climate change, pandemic preparedness and the debt overhang, a senior US Treasury official previously said.
He will also tell his Chinese counterparts that Washington is not seeking to decouple the two economies, while reserving the right to protect US human rights and national security interests through specific actions, the official added.
While no major breakthroughs are expected, US officials say Yellen will push for new lines of communication and coordination on economic matters, and stress the consequences of providing lethal aid to Russia, a claim China has strongly rejected.
When Chinese Ambassador Xie Feng met Yellen in Washington on Monday, he urged the United States to “pay close attention” and act to address China’s top concerns about the economy and trade.
Trade tariffs imposed by the Trump administration and sanctions against Chinese companies are the country’s top concerns, said Wu Xinbo, a specialist in American studies at Fudan University who is familiar with Beijing’s thinking.
Yellen’s long-awaited trip comes weeks after a visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who agreed with Chinese President Xi Jinping that mutual rivalry should not escalate into conflict, amid a freeze on talks. among their armies.
Both visits are seen as essential to improve communication after the US military shot down a Chinese balloon over the United States.
They come ahead of a possible meeting between President Joe Biden and Xi at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting scheduled for November in San Francisco.
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