U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen touched down in China on Thursday for the Biden administration’s second high-level visit to Beijing in weeks aimed at cooling tensions between the two nations.
Yellen was photographed stepping off a government plane at Beijing Capital International Airport, where she was greeted by a Chinese finance ministry official and the U.S. envoy to China, Nicholas Burns.
During the three-day trip, Yellen will meet with senior People’s Republic of China (PRC) officials on a range of issues, including global macroeconomy and financial developments, according to the U.S. Treasury’s July 2 advisory announcing the planned travel.
“While in Beijing, Secretary Yellen will discuss with PRC officials the importance for our countries – as the world’s two largest economies – to responsibly manage our relationship, communicate directly about areas of concern, and work together to address global challenges,” the advisory said.
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According to Reuters, both Beijing and Washington are skeptical Yellen’s trip will successfully smooth relations.
“I wouldn’t regard it as Janet Yellen is not welcome, but China cannot just swallow all the poison pills and continue to show a smile,” Wang Huiyao, the president the Center for China and Globalization think tank told Reuters.
Before Yellen’s arrival, Chinese analysts were quoted in state-run media as assessing that her April speech, when the secretary outlined how the American approach to economic ties with Beijing would prioritize the national security interests of the United States, and its allies did not suggest a positive outcome of the visit this week.
For example, Zhu Feng, a professor of international relations at Nanjing University, was quoted in the Global Times newspaper as saying that Yellen’s focus on national security signaled that the U.S. was unlikely to cease the “economic and technological suppression” of China.
Yellen is due to meet with Chinese officials, American businesspeople and members of the public, Treasury officials told The Associated Press. They reportedly gave no details — but said Yellen would not meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Yellen follows Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who met with Xi last month in the highest-level U.S. visit to Beijing in five years.
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The two agreed to stabilize relations but failed to agree on improving communications between their militaries. After Blinken’s trip, President Biden referred to Xi as dictator. The Chinese protested, but Biden said his blunt statements about China are “just not something I’m going to change very much.” Tensions flared in February after a Chinese surveillance craft flew over the United States.
In testifying before Congress last month, Yellen warned against economic decoupling, or disconnecting, U.S. and Chinese industry and markets. Businesspeople have warned the world might split into separate markets, slowing innovation and economic growth, as both governments tighten controls on trade in technology and other goods deemed sensitive.
Yellen said earlier the two governments “can and need to find a way to live together” in spite of their strained relations over geopolitics and economic development.
Washington has tightened restrictions imposed by Biden’s predecessor, former President Trump, on Chinese access to processor chips and other U.S. technology on security grounds.
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This week, Beijing responded to U.S. technology controls by announcing unspecified curbs on exports of gallium and germanium, two metals used in making semiconductors, solar panels, missiles and radar.
When Chinese Ambassador Xie Feng met with Yellen on Monday, he reportedly encouraged the United States to “pay great attention” to cooling China’s trade concerns.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.