Yellen to Visit China Next Month... US Enters Containment Mode with Semiconductor and AI 'Pressure Tactics' Against China

Administrative Order on Public Investment Regulations in Advanced Technology Sector to Be Announced Soon

Following U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is set to visit China in early next month. Although the two countries are engaged in a hegemonic competition in advanced technology sectors such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI), they remain economically closely connected, which is interpreted as an effort to strengthen strategic communication.

On the 26th (local time), Bloomberg News reported, citing multiple sources, that Secretary Yellen will visit Beijing in early next month to hold her first high-level economic talks with her counterpart, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. Previously, Yellen's visit to China had been continuously postponed due to changes in her counterpart within China.

Since the Chinese spy balloon incident in February, conflicts between the two countries have worsened in various areas including security and economy. However, dialogue resumed recently when Secretary Blinken visited China and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Bloomberg noted that since the inauguration of the Biden administration in 2021, Secretary Yellen will be the second cabinet member to visit China following Secretary Blinken.

Secretary Blinken visited China from the 18th to 19th, holding talks including a dinner with Qin Gang, Chinese Foreign Minister, and the following day, he met with Wang Yi, member of the Communist Party Central Political Bureau, and had an audience with President Xi.

This visit by the U.S. Secretary of State to China is the first in five years since former Secretary Mike Pompeo in 2018. During the foreign ministers' talks, the U.S. and China confirmed differences on major issues such as the Taiwan matter but reached a consensus to avoid direct confrontation for the time being.

Janet Yellen, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.
Photo by AFP Yonhap News

Secretary Yellen's visit aligns with the Biden administration's de-risking policy toward China. Yellen has been a prominent advocate for strengthening strategic communication with China.

She holds the view that decoupling in the U.S.-China trade dispute is a major mistake and that maintaining relations with China benefits U.S. interests. In a speech at Johns Hopkins University last April, she stated, "The U.S. does not want to decouple from China because it would lead to disastrous consequences."

Since the beginning of the Biden administration, for about two years, preparations have been underway for an executive order regulating U.S. investments in China in advanced technology fields such as semiconductors, AI, and quantum computing. Bloomberg reported that the U.S. government has recently accelerated drafting the executive order and is finalizing the details. Sources indicated that the announcement is targeted for late July but could be delayed until August.

Earlier, the political news outlet Politico reported that the U.S. government is pushing measures to require domestic companies to report new investments in Chinese advanced technology firms and to ban outbound investments in certain key sectors such as semiconductors.

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