US Treasury Secretary on China visit amid bilateral tension

Despite low expectations on both sides, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen began a four-day tour in Beijing on Thursday. The goal of her trip is to rebalance relations between the two largest economies in the world. Beijing acknowledges that both nations have prioritised preserving their own national security over economic connections even if it would like to see greater communication to strengthen commercial ties. Chinese analysts have told the state-run media that they were not overly optimistic about the visit after hearing Yellen’s speech from April, in which she underlined the need of defending the national security interests of the United States and its allies. According to Zhu Feng, a professor of international relations at Nanjing University, the United States was unlikely to stop China’s “economic and technological suppression” because of Yellen’s focus on national security. According to a senior U.S. Treasury official, Yellen will underscore the importance of cooperating with Beijing on issues including climate change, pandemic preparedness, and debt distress after arriving at Beijing’s Capital Airport on a US government plane. She will also convey to her Chinese counterparts that Washington does not intend to separate the two economies, but that it reserves the right to take specific measures to defend human rights and U.S. national security objectives. Although no significant progress is anticipated, US sources claim that Yellen would work to develop new channels of communication and coordination on economic issues and underline the negative effects of giving Russia lethal aid—a claim China has vehemently denied. In his meeting with Yellen on Monday in Washington, the Chinese ambassador Xie Feng asked the United States to “pay great attention” and take action to address China’s top economic and trade concerns. According to Wu Xinbo, a researcher in American studies at Fudan University who is familiar with Beijing’s thinking, the country’s main concerns are trade tariffs levied by the Trump administration and sanctions against Chinese companies. Yellen’s eagerly awaited trip comes weeks after Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s stopover, who concurred with Chinese President Xi Jinping that the two countries’ rivalry should not escalate into conflict despite a halt in military dialogue. Following the American military’s shooting down of a Chinese balloon over the country, both visits are considered as essential to enhancing communication. They occur before a potential meeting between President Joe Biden and Xi at the APEX conference, which is slated to take place in San Francisco in November. (With agency inputs)