janet yellen
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s visit to China from June 6 to 9 carried many signs, especially after a series of meetings between U.S. officials and their Chinese counterparts in recent months. And after Secretary of State Anthony Blinken visited Beijing last month.
The visit was planned to permeate discussions on the “responsible” management of relations between the two rival powers and a range of economic issues between the two countries.
Analysts believe that the continuous holding of such meetings between the United States and China is a step of “tactical calm between the two countries” and an attempt to set the standard for competition between the two countries.
Yellen was the second U.S. cabinet-level official to visit China in a month, during which she discussed with members of the Chinese government “the importance of both countries managing their relationship responsibly, as the world’s leading economies,” according to her announcement. U.S. Department of the Treasury.
relieve pressure
Dr. Ayman Samir, an expert on international relations, said the repeated visits by officials from the two countries, especially the recent visit to China by Anthony Blinken and the U.S. Treasury Secretary, “reflected that they did not want to shift the rivalry between the two countries to other countries. “. He pointed out, “When Blinken returned to Washington after visiting Beijing, the US President Joe Biden described Chinese President Xi Jinping as a dictator!”
Relations between Beijing and Washington appear to be heading toward a tactical improvement in recent times, as evidenced by exchanges of visits and meetings between different political parties in the two countries, most notably:
- U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken visited China last month.
- State Department and National Security Council officials met with their counterparts in Beijing last month.
- U.S. national security adviser Jack Sullivan is in Vienna for two days of talks with top Chinese foreign policy officials.
- Last May, CIA Director Bill Burns made a secret visit to China.
- Last May, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao held a dialogue with U.S. Trade Representative Catherine Day on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum in Detroit.
The international relations expert said in an exclusive statement to the “Sky News Arab Economy” website that the US Treasury Secretary’s visit to China is a testament to the ability of the two countries to communicate. The purpose of this visit is to eliminate any false beliefs of the other side. Work in a common space.
He described the visit as “one that seeks common space, eases tensions, and cools down conflicts that have not ceased, in addition to establishing a general framework and clear and well-known criteria for competition between the two parties, including technological competition.” competition. “
U.S. Treasury bonds
The talks are expected to be on “U.S. Treasuries” with the aim of persuading Beijing to stop reducing its holdings of these bonds, which could help the U.S. deal with inflation.
Samir noted that China’s reduction of its holdings of U.S. Treasuries could cause funding problems despite China’s debt ceiling hike, as well as China’s decision to hold off on selling Chinese bonds or debt owed by the U.S. That way the U.S. budget and dollar won’t be under pressure.
According to the U.S. Treasury Department data, “China ranks second among major investors in U.S. Treasury bonds and notes, with investments of about $859.4 billion in January last year and $1,299.9 billion in January 2022.”
The international relations expert said the U.S. wanted to send a message through the visit that it did not want to damage China’s economy or hinder its growth through Washington’s deal with South Korea and Japan on electronic chips and semiconductors. Even Vietnam and the Philippines, telling China it’s interested in China’s growth, which is a big part of the global economic equation.
Anthony Blinken expressed this during his visit to China last month, as part of a series of messages he released in China.
Samir said that the United States is keen to let China fall behind economically, so it has stopped selling some advanced technologies to China in the past period of time, and in the past two months, the United States Congress has made more than one decision, which eventually led to seized. Or prevent the introduction of high-tech technology to China, while the US Treasury Secretary wants to make it clear to China that this move has no intention of harming China.
The international relations expert believes that the trade war between the two countries will not stop, especially in certain fields such as semiconductors and intellectual property, as well as trade between the two countries, espionage of large companies and industrial companies, emphasizing the need to organize This war and competition, rather than getting sucked into other layers that hurt China, the US, and the global economy.
As the rhetoric of “disengagement between the two countries” in the US circle continues to escalate, Samir also pointed out that the purpose of the US is to control the trade balance between the US and China.
Calm the situation and prevent the relationship from deteriorating
Hussein Ismail, an expert on China and vice president of the Arabic version of “China Today” magazine, explained in an exclusive speech on the “Sky News Arab Economy” website that the US Treasury Secretary’s visit to China is within the framework of the two countries. ongoing. Given the growing tension between Washington and Beijing, the two sides have tried to calm the situation and control the size of their differences, most recently with China’s Defense Ministry announcing on Wednesday that Taiwan is turning into a powder warehouse as the United States supplies it with weapons.
He added: “In addition to the differences in strategic interests between the two countries, there is also competition and conflict in the South China Sea region, which is one of the most important hotspots in Southeast Asia because it is one of the most important hotspots in Southeast Asia.” Clashes between the two countries over how to expand their influence…besides clashes over technology and trade. “Aside from the divergence of positions between the two countries on many international issues, the most notable is the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
As for the economic files, China affairs experts pointed out that the trade volume between the two countries is close to one trillion U.S. dollars, and there are huge commercial and economic interests between the two countries, which makes the two countries reluctant to deteriorate economic relations. Against the backdrop of political and geostrategic conflicts.
The China affairs expert appreciated the visit to China by US officials in charge of trade and financial affairs, calling the visit “very important”; in particular, China is the largest holder of US bonds, and there are many US companies operating in China. The export volume is also very large.
During her visit to China, Janet Yellen is expected to seek to maintain a minimum understanding of trade, investment and financial documents between the two countries. Relations at the political level differ from economic relations in that they seek to prevent further deterioration of relations.
He noted that U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration treats China differently than former President Donald Trump’s administration, which has seen multiple sanctions imposed on China for its exports, while China has sometimes taken similar measures to counteract it. Response, while in the Biden administration administrative documents have not been upgraded, the economy is similarly strained.
understanding of business issues
He described the visit as an “attempt to keep differences between the two countries to a minimum and possibly reach an understanding on some contentious issues related to trade and the economy,” noting that the most prominent of these concerns were with Trump. China may also call for the lifting of a ban on some U.S. technology exports to Beijing and the resumption of economic consultations between the U.S. and China. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has suspended trade between the two countries following her visit to Taiwan, and may also be considering some kind of facilitation for Chinese companies to invest in the United States.
Keep the economic dossier out of political conflict
The China expert believes that there is a shared desire between Washington and Beijing to push the economic document between the two countries away from differences in other documents, hoping that there will be some positive results, while he believes that these results will not reach Beijing or The level of ambition Washington had hoped for. Because the relationship between them is still connected to the overall relationship.
He explained that as long as there is an appropriate political atmosphere, the amount of economic exchanges between the two countries will have a significant development, but judging from this movement between the two countries, each side is trying to weaken the other, which shows that the American public is very interested in Chinese acceptance is declining and dislike of the US is evident, so even the economic paper does not show a marked improvement in the overall mood.
revival of relationship
Dr Jalal Rahim, an expert on Asian affairs, told Sky News Arab Economy in an exclusive interview that the visit comes against the backdrop of the pulse picking up in bilateral relations between the two countries after a virtual hiatus. more than five years. In particular, the two countries are in a state of cold war, with fierce competition for international influence, military and economic policies.
He said that in 2020, the U.S. government headed by Biden came to power, whether it is technology, industry or commerce, has adopted a policy of decoupling the two countries, urging U.S. companies to gradually withdraw from China, and blocking large companies in addition to other companies. strategic investment. These investments are in the field of technology, especially in the military field, which the United States considers to be high-risk, so the U.S. government has stepped up to stop commercial exchanges between the two countries.
“But the U.S. government ultimately concluded that disengagement, which had cost it so much, was futile,” he continued, noting that this was hinted by the U.S. Treasury secretary to Congress last month.
The Asia expert emphasized the importance of the visit, which is expected to replace disengagement, attempt to mitigate or limit damage and identify specific areas of high risk in dealing with the People’s Republic of China, describing the step as The U.S. has retreated tactically and strategically in the field of trade war.
It also suggests that U.S. attempts at rapprochement with China will not lead to the end of the trade war, but instead steer it in a direction that would cause the least damage to the U.S. in terms of trade and finance, while ensuring technological containment of China.
symbolic visit
Raheem Hasim ruled out any documents on trade relations and areas of disagreement between the two countries following the visit, which he said was “symbolic and would not bring about changes that could alter the existing trade war between the two countries.” A real success.” This visit is the first visit to break the ice and establish diplomatic relations after five years, and it is a kind of exchange between the two countries and the two countries in the field of trade.
He went on to say that “there is little hope of resolving any of the dossiers, as this visit took place against the backdrop of two new laws in China,” noting that the last law to go into effect was China’s Anti-Espionage Law, which had been Get criticized by the international community especially the United States, and everything it talks about is threatening Chinese interests, a loose term according to which any scientific or even academic business activities between the two countries fall under the scope of the Chinese espionage law, which is Make U.S. companies more afraid of Chinese authorities putting pressure on them and restricting their technology and manufacturing activities.
As for the second law, he noted that it tightened export procedures for Chinese materials used to make electronic chips to prevent their upgrading and Technological development, thereby imposing a technological blockade on it. It warned that the visit was taking place within a framework of tensions at various levels between the two countries.