Janet Yellen’s visit comes just weeks after Antony Blinken’s visit to Beijing. (file)
Washington:
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will travel to Beijing July 6-9 for meetings with senior Chinese officials on a range of issues, including US concerns about a new Chinese espionage law, a senior Treasury official said on Sunday.
The official told reporters that Janet Yellen’s long-awaited visit is part of an effort by President Joe Biden to deepen communication between the world’s two largest economies, stabilize the relationship and reduce the risk of mistakes if disagreements arise. .
It comes just weeks after Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Beijing and agreed with Chinese President Xi Jinping to stabilize ties and ensure the two countries’ intense rivalry does not escalate into conflict. China protested strongly when Biden later called Xi a “dictator”, but analysts say the remarks have had little effect on efforts to improve ties.
The Treasury chief plans to tell China’s new economic team that Washington will continue to protect human rights and its national security interests through targeted actions against China, but climate change and the debt crisis faced by many countries wants to work with Beijing on urgent challenges such as ,
“We want a healthy economic relationship with China that fosters growth and innovation in both countries,” the official said. “We do not want to tear apart our economies. A complete cessation of trade and investment would be destabilizing for both our countries and the global economy.”
The official declined to say on condition of anonymity which Chinese officials Yellen would meet in Beijing. A second administration official told Reuters that Yellen was expected to meet with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.
The first official said Janet Yellen would work with aides to underscore Washington’s determination to strengthen its competitiveness while responding to “economic coercion” and unfair economic practices by China.
One clear area of concern, the official said, involves China’s new national security and espionage law and the potential impact on foreign and American companies.
“We have concerns with the new measure, and how it might be implemented, that it could expand the scope of what authorities in China regard as espionage activity,” the official said, citing the potential impact on the broader investment climate. could.” economic relations.
The official said, although no major “breakthrough” was expected, Treasury officials hoped to hold constructive talks with China’s new economic team and build long-term channels of communication, including at the sub-cabinet level.
US officials will also reiterate concerns about human rights abuses against the Uighur Muslim minority, China’s recent move to ban the sale of Micron Technology memory chips, and China’s moves against foreign due diligence and consulting firms.
Janet Yellen will also talk with Chinese officials about the long-awaited US executive action to curb outbound investment in China in certain key areas, and “make sure they don’t think there’s something that is going to happen or it’s going to happen.” is wider than intended.” the officer said.
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