2023-07-09 02:08:51
– Yellen optimistic about relations with China after trip to Beijing
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she was optimistic after her trip to China aimed at easing tensions between the world’s two biggest powers.
Posted today at 04:08
Janet Yellen.
AFP
Relations between the United States and China now have “more solid foundations”, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Sunday, optimistic after a four-day trip to Beijing aimed at easing tensions between the world’s two largest powers. .
Arriving in the Chinese capital on Thursday, Janet Yellen was received by several senior government officials, including Prime Minister Li Qiang, and continued to plead for more exchanges and collaborations despite the differences.
“Overall, I think my bilateral meetings — which totaled about 10 hours over two days — were a step forward in our efforts to ground the U.S.-China relationship on more solid foundations”, she declared Sunday, during a press conference at the American embassy.
Stabilize strained relationships
This visit, Janet Yellen’s first since taking office in 2021, comes a few weeks after that of Secretary of State Antony Blinken and marks the Biden administration’s desire to stabilize strained bilateral relations. “Both nations have an obligation to manage this relationship responsibly: to find a way to live together and share global prosperity,” said the Treasury Secretary, stressing the “vital” importance of high-level contacts. “We believe the world is big enough for our two countries to prosper.”
Although no major progress has been communicated, the official Xinhua news agency stressed that the meeting on Saturday between Janet Yellen and Deputy Prime Minister He Lifeng had made it possible to agree on “strengthening communication and cooperation to face global challenges.
“Significant disagreements”
The US Treasury Secretary admittedly acknowledged on Sunday that there are “significant disagreements” between the two countries, but she assured that the discussions in Beijing were “direct, substantial and productive”. The main sticking point is in semiconductors, with the imposition in recent months of restrictions to cut off Chinese companies’ supply of American technology, including chips.
China, which seeks to become autonomous in this area, believes that these measures are aimed at hindering its development and maintaining American supremacy. The United States will continue to take “targeted actions” to preserve its national security, Yellen warned. But “it is important to note that these actions are motivated by simple national security considerations. We don’t use them for economic gain.”
She also expressed Washington’s “serious concerns” about Beijing’s “unfair trade practices”. These include barriers to foreign companies entering the Chinese market and issues related to intellectual property protection. . “I have also raised concerns about the recent upsurge in enforcement actions against American companies,” she said, referring to raids and investigations targeting audit firms in recent months. China.
«Enthusiastic»
If Janet Yellen is already showing her optimism, “the announcement of any concrete progress and any major result will probably be reserved for the two main leaders”, Xi Jinping and Joe Biden, estimates Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center. But she points out that “the two parties have not had this level of communication and consultation for several years”. Last month, Joe Biden said he was confident in an upcoming meeting with his Chinese counterpart.
For Lindsay Gorman, of the American think tank German Marshall Fund, “the main objective of this trip is really to send a message” to “allies and partners of the United States, both in the region and in the world” . Janet Yellen notably advocated, during her trip, “healthy economic competition, not the law of the strongest, with a fair set of rules, which can benefit both countries”.
Generally speaking, China’s attitude towards the US Treasury Secretary seems “more enthusiastic” than during Blinken’s visit, noted Wu Xinbo, director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University. “Ms. Yellen is considered a professional in the eyes of the Chinese, and her attitude towards economic and trade relations between China and the United States is relatively rational,” he adds, stressing that she is opposes the decoupling between the two economies.
Taylor Fravel of MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), however, calls for moderating optimism: “I don’t think a single visit or interaction alone can accomplish the goal of stabilizing relationships.” But it shows a desire for continued economic cooperation between Washington and Beijing, “despite political friction in the relationship and competitive actions to limit China’s access to certain technologies such as semiconductors.”
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