Yellen visits Beijing to strengthen Chinese-American ties amid tensions

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is set to arrive in Beijing on Thursday for a visit aimed at enhancing communication between the two countries and calming tensions amidst growing trade tensions between the major economic powers.

The visit, which will last until Sunday, marks Yellen's first trip to China since assuming her position and comes a few weeks after a visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Yellen had expressed her intention to visit China earlier, but doubts surrounded the plan due to the resurgence of tensions between the two countries at the beginning of the year when the United States spotted a Chinese surveillance balloon over its territory and shot it down.

During her visit, Yellen will seek to enhance communication between the two countries, avoid mutual misunderstandings, and expand cooperation on issues related to the global economy, climate change, and the debt crisis in emerging and developing countries, according to the Treasury Department.

These meetings often provide an opportunity to discuss growth prospects between partner and rival nations, and Yellen's visit comes against the backdrop of China's challenging economic recovery and increasing interest rates in the United States.

Responding to questions from Agence France-Presse, Lindsey Gorman, Deputy Head of the Asia Society Policy Institute, noted that "Yellen spending four days in Beijing amidst all the other domestic and international pressures she faces indicates the importance she attaches to this visit."

While there are many contentious issues between the two sides with minimal room for adjusting their policies, Gorman explained that the visit would allow for establishing cooperation frameworks for the future.

Rebuilding Relations -
On the other hand, according to Lindsey Gorman, a researcher at the German Marshall Fund, the visit falls within the US efforts to "rebuild" relations between the two major powers, both diplomatically and on other levels.

Gorman emphasized the need to recognize the new reality of this strategic competition, noting that Yellen has so far only addressed competition in matters related to security and values such as human rights.

Gorman also confirmed to Agence France-Presse that the message conveyed by the United States may be "the most important element" of Yellen's visit.

She expected that issues such as restrictions on exports of technological products and competitive measures, which currently dominate the political agenda, would be at the heart of the discussions, with a need to "clarify the true purpose behind these actions and explain them."

As confirmation of the challenges facing Yellen, The Wall Street Journal reported that the US administration is considering limiting Chinese companies' access to cloud services provided by American companies such as Amazon and Microsoft.

China responded to US restrictions by imposing a cap on the exports of rare earth metals necessary for semiconductor production, indicating that improving bilateral relations may take time.

However, according to Gorman, Yellen may be best positioned to bridge the gap with China regarding common global challenges.

The details of the scheduled meetings have not been clarified, but analysts expect Yellen to hold talks with the newly appointed deputy prime minister, He Lefeng, who was appointed in March.

Tension and Cooperation -

 

Despite these efforts, contentious issues between the two countries persist, particularly regarding economic matters, and have intensified with the possibility of President Joe Biden imposing restrictions on US investments in China, especially concerning sensitive technologies, which threatens to deal a blow to investments in China.

Additionally, Washington expresses concerns about "coercive actions and non-competitive economic practices" carried out by China and intends to take steps to address them, according to a Treasury official.

However, cooperation remains possible in certain areas, such as the massive debts of some countries.

In this context, the United States welcomed the progress achieved in debt negotiations with Zambia, after the creditor parties, led by China, agreed in principle to restructure its debts, following a similar development regarding Sri Lanka.

Washington emphasizes the need for creditor parties to act as quickly as possible to avoid exacerbating debt crises, especially after accusing China of stalling in the past.

Finally, the visit serves as an opportunity to make progress on the plan to hold a bilateral summit, as President Biden expressed his hope to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping soon.