China: Ms. Janet Yellen, the United States Treasury Secretary, has stated that her talks with top Chinese officials in recent days were “direct” and “productive” and helped put the US-China relationship on “surer footing”.
Ms. Yellen told a press conference that the US and China remained at odds on a number of issues but expressed confidence that her bilateral meetings, which totaled about 10 hours, had advanced Washington’s efforts to stabilise fraught relations between the world’s two biggest economies.
“The US and China have significant disagreements,” the US Treasury Secretary told reporters at the US Embassy in Beijing, citing her government’s concerns about what she called “unfair economic practises” and Beijing’s recent punitive actions against US firms.
“But President Mr. Joe Biden and I do not see the relationship between the US and China through the lens of great power conflict. We believe that the world is big enough for both of our countries to thrive,” Ms. Yellen added.
Ms. Yellen’s four-day visit is Washington’s latest attempt to repair US-China ties, which have been disturbed over issues ranging from Taiwan to technology and that have drawn allies into their rivalry, affecting companies and trade ties.
US Secretary of State Mr. Antony Blinken visited Beijing last month in the first visit by the top US diplomat of the Biden presidency, while climate envoy John Kerry is expected to visit China this month.
The US diplomatic push comes ahead of a possible meeting between Mr. Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Mr. Xi Jinping, as soon as September’s Group of 20 summit in New Delhi or the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering scheduled for November in San Francisco.
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