WASHINGTON: The United States (US) and China clashed over trade issues on Friday but expressed their commitment to maintaining open lines of communication as China’s commerce minister, Wang Wentao, made a rare visit following a period of heightened tensions.
Wentao met with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation trade meeting in Detroit, a day after his meeting with Gina Raimondo, the US Secretary of Commerce, in Washington. Tai’s office stated that she discussed the importance of the US-China trade relationship in the global economy and emphasized the need for continued engagement between the two sides.
China’s state-run Xinhua agency described the meeting in Detroit as “candid, pragmatic, and in-depth.” It noted that Wang expressed concerns about US trade policies and Taiwan, the self-governing democracy that Beijing claims as part of its territory and has not ruled out using force to bring under its control.
Both Tai and Raimondo expressed concerns about China’s actions against US companies. China recently imposed restrictions on purchases from US chip giant Micron, citing security risks. This move was widely seen as retaliation after President Joe Biden imposed a comprehensive ban on China’s access to advanced US semiconductors, citing concerns over their potential military application and China’s dominance in emerging technologies.
The visit by Wang Wentao marks one of the first high-level meetings between Chinese and US officials since President Biden assumed office. Previous high-level dialogues had been suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the relationship between the two countries became increasingly strained under former President Donald Trump’s administration.
China and US Committed to Manage Tensions
President Biden and President Xi Jinping met in November, where they both expressed a commitment to managing tensions between the two nations. However, in February, the US expressed outrage after detecting what it claimed was a Chinese surveillance drone over US soil, prompting Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel a planned visit to Beijing.
In a recent effort to restore communication, Biden’s national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, met with top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi in Vienna earlier this month. China’s new ambassador to the United States, Xie Feng, also held a meeting with Victoria Nuland, the US State Department’s third highest-ranking official, on Thursday.
Upon his arrival in Washington, Xie stated that there are “profound differences” between the two countries but highlighted the importance of the relationship, saying, “The relationship is too important for us to let it fail.”
