Three purposes, Yellen's visit to China | Yellen | Purpose

US Treasury Secretary Yellen has been actively seeking a visit to China since February this year, and has repeatedly released plans, finally achieving his wish.

According to the official website of the Ministry of Finance, as agreed by both China and the United States, Yellen will visit China from July 6th to 9th. This will be the second senior Biden administration official to visit China this year since tensions between China and the United States have intensified, and also Yellen's first visit to China as finance minister.

The Governor of Chang'an Street noticed that within two weeks, two heavyweight American officials took the initiative to visit China, highlighting the urgent desire of the United States to resume dialogue with China.

At present, the record breaking inflation level in the United States has raised concerns about the economic outlook. At the same time, the aggressive interest rate hike policy in the United States has failed to effectively control inflation and instead triggered the outbreak of a banking crisis, further weakening economic stability. Facing internal and external difficulties, cooperation with China has become particularly crucial.

What are Yellen's plans for this trip?

Overall, it is to stabilize the relationship between the world's two largest economies.

A US official who declined to be named stated that her purpose of this visit is to deepen and enhance communication frequency between the US and China, stabilize relations, avoid communication barriers, and expand cooperation as much as possible.

Yellen said in an interview with MSNBC last week that China US relations are important to the entire world, and "healthy competition" can benefit workers and businesses in both countries. "The United States and China need to discuss their differences so as not to misunderstand each other's intentions."

According to reports from American media, Yellen has three things to do in these four days:

Firstly, hold high-level economic talks with Chinese counterparts to discuss global challenges and issues of common concern.

Topics may include areas of common interest between China and the United States, such as tariffs, exchange rates, debt, and other macroeconomic issues; It will also involve areas of disagreement between the two sides. For example, Yellen may oppose China's ban on Micron Technologies, revisit the so-called "Xinjiang human rights issue", let China take more measures to provide debt relief for developing countries on behalf of multilateral financial institutions and commercial creditors, especially the United States, which raised interest rates crazily last year, and question China's position in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and China Russia relations.

In addition, Yellen may express concerns about the scope of application of the newly revised Anti Espionage Law of the People's Republic of China, which will come into effect on July 1st.

Secondly, meet with relevant personnel from American companies conducting business in China.

Thirdly, once again emphasize the attitude of not supporting "decoupling" and defend the fact that the United States is engaging in "decoupling".

The Governor of Chang'an Street noticed that recently, the Biden administration has implemented extensive restrictions on China to restrict its access to semiconductor technology, biotechnology, and sensitive technologies, hindering the development of China's artificial intelligence and high-end computing, under the pretext of "protecting US national security.".

Yellen intends to defend himself and try to convince China that the US's suppression and containment of China is only for "national security interests" and not "to gain a competitive economic advantage.".

The latest speech of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken may serve as a reference. Antony Blinken said in his speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York last week that it is in the interests of the United States to prevent China from obtaining "technology that may be used to harm the United States".

Antony Blinken mentioned "technology", referring to China's nuclear weapons program, hypersonic missile research and development, and the use of artificial intelligence. He firmly believes that if China were to change its stance, it would do the same and says that the United States is implementing "very targeted control measures.".

As expected, the law has never been missed: "What the United States accuses others of must be something they have done themselves.".

The governor of Chang'an Avenue noted that the "three things" of Yellen's visit to China are basically consistent with the three economic priorities of U. S.-China relations outlined in her speech on U. S.-China economic relations at Johns Hopkins University in April this year, namely:

Ensure the national security of the United States; Not seeking decoupling, but working together with allies to address so-called "China's unfair practices"; I hope to cooperate with China to address global challenges such as climate change and debt difficulties.

This indicates that the Biden administration has always maintained a strong stance towards China and will not loosen any ground due to Yellen's visit to China.

Moreover, in order to reduce the technology research and development investment that China can obtain, just as news of Yellen's visit to China came out, the White House was also preparing to introduce new investment restrictions.

It is reported that the Biden administration is about to approve a China related executive order aimed at regulating and potentially cutting off US investment in fields such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing. Sources say that the relevant work has accelerated and will be ready as early as late July. The specific issuance time and final details have not yet been determined.

The Governor of Chang'an Street noted that the United States is well aware of China's unwavering determination to safeguard its core interests. Therefore, the US political and academic circles do not have high expectations for the possible outcomes of Yellen's visit and the overall expectations of bilateral relations.

Bloomberg cited unnamed officials as saying that the Biden administration does not expect Yellen's visit to achieve "significant breakthroughs". Yellen is expected to make progress only in areas where China and the United States share common interests.

Former White House official and China expert at Georgetown University, Evan Medros, said that Yellen's visit is "just the next step in the uncertain process." "It's great to do this, but it's hard to see how this visit plays a role in the complex game of great power competition."

On July 3rd, former Chinese Ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, stated at the World Peace Forum that the recent high-level exchanges between China and the United States are good things. It is better for both sides to meet and sit down to discuss than not meeting or discussing.

He pointed out that China has never expected the United States to like what it says or does, and China has never promised to say what the United States likes to hear or do what the United States likes to see. China and the United States need to find ways to handle their relationship with mutual respect, truly achieving peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation on the basis of mutual respect.