Later this week, when US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen travels to Beijing, high-level official meetings between China and the US will take place. Although neither party anticipates a dramatic improvement in their relationship in the near future, there is cause for optimism that they may eventually come to terms with their differences.
According to the China Ministry of Finance, it was decided following talks between the two nations that Yellen will visit Beijing from July 6 to 9. The former Fed Chairman is regarded as a US politician who is largely supportive of China.
After Blinken’s visit on June 18–19 and before an anticipated meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden, Yellen will be in town. The main topics on the agenda for the upcoming Xi-Biden talks will still be Taiwan-related concerns, the conflict in Ukraine, and US semiconductor export restrictions.
Chinese critics claimed that because Washington had unintentionally sparked a Cold War with China, it was unlikely that the US would soon quit putting fresh restrictions on China’s high-tech industry.
On June 26, Fudan University professor of international relations Zhang Weiwei claimed that the US was to blame for the Sino-US rivalry because it failed to acknowledge China’s rise. In addition, he added, it was a grave error for the US to believe it could block China’s rise.
But he said that things appear to be getting better.
Zhang referred to the psychological stages of grieving described by Elizabeth Kuebler-Ross and claimed that after failing to defeat China in the trade and technology wars, the US appears to have moved past the first two stages of denial and anger and is now entering the third stage, which is described as “partial acceptance and bargaining.” Depression and acceptance are the names of the fourth and fifth stages, respectively.
He continued by saying that China has not yet resumed military discussions with the US because it wants to make clear to the latter that it is not scared of any military clashes.
The US Treasury Department announced that Yellen will meet with officials from the People’s Republic of China in Beijing to discuss “the importance for our countries – as the world’s two largest economies – to responsibly manage our relationship, communicate directly about areas of concern, and work together to address global challenges.”
