“I think we welcome Yellen’s visit, and this on a functional level should allow both sides to warm up to each other,” he said.
“We are now reshaping, rebuilding China-US relations.”
“AVOID MISUNDERSTANDING”
In a tweet after arriving on Thursday, Yellen said that although the United States would protect its national security when needed, “this trip presents an opportunity to communicate and avoid miscommunication or misunderstanding”.
The United States does not expect specific policy breakthroughs this time, but hopes for frank and productive conversations that can pave the way for future talks, a US Treasury official told reporters on Thursday.
But, they said, “especially if they’re things that we may disagree about, it’s even more important that we’re talking”.
Tensions soared earlier this year when the United States detected and then shot down what it said was a Chinese spy balloon after the craft traversed its territory.
Blinken cancelled a visit to China over the incident but eventually travelled to the country in June.
During that trip, both sides agreed on the need to stabilise their relationship.
But Yellen faces an uphill struggle in persuading officials in Beijing that US actions – such as tightened export curbs on high-end semiconductors – are aimed at safeguarding national security and not an attempt to stifle China’s economic rise.
Underscoring the challenges she could face, The Wall Street Journal reported that the US administration is mulling restricting Chinese firms’ access to US cloud computing services provided by companies such as Amazon and Microsoft.
Source: CNA
