US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Sunday arrived in Beijing for an official visit in yet another attempt by President Joe Biden’s administration to mend deteriorating ties with China. Raimondo said before leaving that she will adopt a ‘practical’ approach without compromising the US’ ways to manage the economic relationship.
She will meet Chinese officials and US business leaders in Beijing and Shanghai in a bid to “promote a healthy competition, a competition on a level playing field, playing by the rules”. “I’m also very realistic and clear-eyed about the challenges. And the challenges are significant,” said Raimondo in an interaction with reporters.
The Commerce Secretary also asserted that she will find actionable and concrete steps to move forward on the US-China commercial relationship. One of the areas of discussion will focus on the promotion of Chinese travel and tourism to the US.
Don’t want to decouple from China’s economy: Raimondo
Raimondo emphasised that the US administration is not interested in containing the economic development of China and said that it wants the Chinese economy to prosper. “We do not want to contain or hold back China. We do need to protect our national security, and we’re going to use our export controls to the fullest extent possible to do that,” she said.
She also said that the US does not want to decouple from China’s economy in its focus on promoting manufacturing to boost the American economy. She also spoke on the US and China’s dynamic and growing economic partnership and said that the world needed both sides to manage it responsibly.
“It’s hard to solve problems in any relationship if you don’t communicate. And lack of communication results in rising tensions and a spiral to a bad place,” Raimondo added, while acknowledging that China has not followed through promised economic reforms and continues to use non-market trade and investment practices.
Raimondo’s visit comes at the invitation of Chinese Minister Wang Wentao. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, “China and the US are in touch about bilateral engagement and exchange.”
Previous visits by US officials to Beijing
Raimondo is the latest US official to visit China amid strained ties. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visited Beijing in July and Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a two-day stop in Beijing in June. The visits show the administration’s willingness to mend ties with China and partner with it on economic relationship during a difficult time when US-China ties are fraught with tensions over America’s growing ties with Japan, South Korea, Australia and the European Union (EU).
Although Blinken agreed to stability of US-China ties with Chinese President Xi Jinping in June, better communication between the militaries on both sides could not be agreed upon.
The US has imposed foreign investment controls that have affected several Chinese companies. Beijing accused Washington of “using the cover of risk reduction” to carry out decoupling and chain-breaking. Since then, China has increased its own trade in the Asian continent.
However, the US has argued that the controls are from a perspective of achieving national security goals rather than economic interests, and that the categories covered were intentionally narrow. They are aimed towards decreasing China’s ability to use American investments to upgrade its own military.
Biden at a recent fundraiser in Utah for his reelection campaign called China a “ticking time bomb”. “They have got some problems. That’s not good because when bad folks have problems, they do bad thing,” he said.
It is worth mentioning the tension between the two superpowers inflated earlier last year when then-US Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan– a region that China claims is it’s own. In fact, China showcased maximum aggression against the visit and even warned of a full-fledged war. Later, tension soared further following the discovery of multiple “Chinese Spy balloons” in the skies of America just days before US State Secretary Antony
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