On Thursday, the US Treasury Secretary arrived in Beijing for a visit aimed at improving communication and easing tensions in the bilateral relationship. Notably, this happened after the US is trying to pull away from China its large-scale technological investments and instead choosing India as its partner.
Janet Yellen, the US Treasury Secretary, landed in Beijing on Thursday to embark on a visit with the goal of enhancing relations and reducing tensions. Her objective is to establish better communication channels, prevent misunderstandings, and foster collaboration on various topics, including climate change, the global economy, debt crisis, and more.
Yellen’s visit to China comes as relations between the world’s two largest economies have further deteriorated earlier this year, making it the second visit by a cabinet official after Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit. Upon her arrival in Beijing, Yellen was greeted by Nicholas Burns, the American ambassador to China, and Yang Ying Ming, a representative of the Chinese Finance Ministry.
During her trip, concerns about the recovery of the Chinese economy and the potential impact of US interest rate hikes are present.
The US has now adopted a more explicit approach of de-risking instead of being ambiguous about its support for decoupling. However, analysts do not expect tensions to diminish rapidly. China is unhappy about the US exploring a program to restrict certain foreign investments related to sensitive technology with potential national security implications. US is now increasingly looking at India as a partner than Chia in terms of making investments in the field of technology.
Another potential point of contention is the Chinese anti-espionage law, which may require amendment. The law, while aiming to prevent the sharing of information related to national security, recently expanded its scope of surveillance. This action has caused unease among both domestic and foreign businesses.
Tensions between the two countries escalated this year following an incident where the US shot down a Chinese balloon it claimed was being used for surveillance, a claim strongly disputed by China.