US and China Economic and Diplomatic Chiefs Hold Consecutive Meetings... "Test for Relationship Improvement"

Secretary Yellen Holds Face-to-Face Meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Ryu at Davos
Blinken to Visit Beijing on May 5-6

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] The economic and diplomatic heads of the United States and China, who are engaged in strategic competition, will hold a series of meetings. This first bilateral meeting is a follow-up measure to last year's meeting between the US and Chinese leaders, but tensions between the two countries have not eased since the summit, drawing attention to whether this high-level meeting can serve as an opportunity to improve relations.

On the 16th (local time), the US political media outlet Politico reported, citing diplomats stationed in Washington, that US Secretary of State Tony Blinken is scheduled to visit China on July 5-6 to meet with Foreign Minister Qin Gang. This will be the first face-to-face meeting between the two sides since Qin was appointed Foreign Minister at the 13th National People's Congress Standing Committee meeting on June 30. Foreign Minister Qin is a seasoned diplomat with over 30 years of experience in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is known as a "trusted diplomatic aide of President Xi."

Politico described this meeting as a follow-up to the promise made after the face-to-face meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit held in Bali, Indonesia, in November last year, to "maintain open lines of communication."

Earlier, The New York Times (NYT) reported that Blinken's visit to China was discussed immediately after the US-China summit in November last year and stated, "This meeting between the heads of diplomacy will have the same broad objectives as the previous summit." It also noted that regardless of the outcome of this meeting, the Biden administration will continue its tough policy toward China. Professor Weiwen Ang of the University of Michigan's Department of Political Science compared the Biden administration's diplomatic stance toward China to Theodore Roosevelt's "big stick" policy, saying it "speaks softly but carries a big stick."

Janet Yellen, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. [Photo by AP News]

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will also meet face-to-face for the first time on the 18th, taking advantage of the multilateral platform of the World Economic Forum (WEF, Davos Forum) annual meeting. The US Treasury Department stated in a press release the day before, "Secretary Yellen and Vice Premier Liu will meet at the Davos Forum in Switzerland on the 18th to exchange views on macroeconomic developments and economic issues." Bloomberg News reported that sensitive issues such as US semiconductor export restrictions to China and changes in China's economic policies following President Xi's re-election are expected to be discussed at this meeting.

As the US-China confrontation stemming from the trade war has spread to advanced technology sectors such as semiconductors, the US restricted exports of advanced semiconductor manufacturing technology, equipment, and personnel to China in October. Cornered, the Chinese government filed a complaint against the US with the World Trade Organization (WTO), escalating bilateral relations to an extreme. China cut off dialogue channels with the US in retaliation for former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan in August last year but shifted back to a stance of "cooperating where possible" following the US-China summit last year.

Politico evaluated that this series of meetings between the heads of economic and diplomatic sectors will test whether the US-China relationship, which has been sharply divided over sensitive areas such as Taiwan and Xinjiang and has been critical over human rights and democracy issues, can transition to a more productive relationship.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.