Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen raised eyebrows while holding a meeting with China’s Deputy Prime Minister and bowed several times as she greeted him.
Yellen, who served as Federal Reserve Chair before becoming Joe Biden’s top Treasury official, ended her first visit to China as Treasury Secretary on Sunday.
Both Washington and Beijing said meetings during their four-day trip had been fruitful, although the visit – meant to smooth over a troubled relationship – failed to produce concrete agreements.
Her visit came as the US warned its citizens against traveling to China on June 30, citing the risk of arbitrary detention.
Speaking at a news conference on Sunday at the conclusion of her four-day trip, Yellen said it had been useful – although there had been no major breakthroughs
On Saturday, Yellen met Vice Premier He Lifeng and bowed profusely before meeting the top Chinese official.
Beijing’s official Xinhua news agency said the meeting resulted in an agreement to “strengthen communication and cooperation in addressing global challenges.”
Yellen told a news conference on Sunday that her talks with top Chinese officials had helped put relations on a “more secure footing”.
Former White House aide Bradley Blakeman, who served during President George W. Bush’s administration, told the New York Post that Yellen’s kowtowing to the Chinese official was inappropriate.
“Never, never, never — an American official doesn’t bow,” Blakeman said. “It looks like she’s been summoned to the director’s office, and that’s exactly the look the Chinese love.”
Blakeman added, “The way to treat an opponent is not to lift your hat.” “But with this administration, we keep embarrassing ourselves and showing weakness.”
“And it just shows the lack of effective leverage that we have.” Author Max Murray said, “She didn’t realize that bowing down as an American official was a breach of protocol.”
“They don’t take revenge. He even steps back to give her more room to kowtow.’
Janet Yellen, the Minister of Finance, takes a bow as she meets China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng
Her trip followed Antony Blinken’s visit and was part of the Biden administration’s effort to improve communications between the two superpowers.
Yellen stressed the need for healthy economic competition and improved communication, and called for cooperation on the “existential threat” of climate change.
“We believe the world is big enough for our two countries to thrive,” she told reporters at the US Embassy in Beijing on Sunday.
“Both nations have a duty to manage these relations responsibly: to find a way to live together and share in global prosperity,” she added.
Yellen said on Sunday that while there were “significant disagreements” between the countries, their talks had been “direct, substantive and productive.”
“My bilateral meetings — which totaled about 10 hours over two days — were a step forward in our efforts to put US-China relations on a more secure footing,” she said.
“I am confident that we will communicate more frequently and regularly.”
Yellen can be seen with He Lifeng at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on Saturday
Yellen said she stressed the need for healthy economic competition with China
Topping the list of disagreements is Washington’s trade restrictions, which it says are vital to protecting national security.
On Sunday, Yellen said she had stressed that Washington’s actions “are not being used by us to gain economic advantage.”
“These actions are motivated by clear national security considerations,” she said.
And as the US mulls new restrictions that could tighten regulation of American foreign investment into China, Yellen said any new moves would be implemented in a “transparent manner.”
“I stressed that it would be very targeted and clearly narrowly focused on a few sectors where we have specific national security concerns,” she said.
“I want to allay their fears that we would do something that would have a far-reaching impact on the Chinese economy.”
“It’s not like that, it’s not the intention.”
She also said she had raised “serious concerns” about “unfair economic practices” by Beijing.
She pointed to barriers to foreign companies entering the Chinese market and problems related to intellectual property protection.
“I have also expressed my concern about the recent increase in coercive measures against American companies,” she said, referring to a recent national security crackdown on US companies in China.
During an expert panel on Saturday, Yellen also stressed the “critical” need for the two largest greenhouse gas emitters to work together on climate finance.
“The United States and China must work together to address this existential threat,” she said.
Looking ahead, “Announcement of any specific major breakthroughs and significant results is likely to be reserved for the top two leaders,” said Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center in Washington.
“The two sides have not communicated and consulted at this level for several years,” she told AFP.
Last month, Biden expressed his confidence in meeting Chinese leader Xi Jinping soon.
Blinken last month became the first top US diplomat to visit China in five years amid tensions between the two superpowers over COVID, Taiwan, economic rivalry, human rights and the “spy balloon” saga.
Both Washington and Beijing said progress had been made – without giving concrete examples.
Blinken’s trip was then quickly overshadowed by President Joe Biden, who labeled Xi a dictator – remarks that infuriated China.
Biden downplayed the drama, insisting he expects to see Xi himself in the near future and doesn’t think his words will make any difference in their relationship.
Foreign Minister Antony Blinken is seen meeting with Xi Jinping in Beijing June 19. Blinken is the first senior US official to visit China in five years
Blinken meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping on June 19
Chinese President Xi Jinping looks on as he meets with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing
John Kerry, Biden’s climate chief, and Trade Secretary Gina Raimondo are expected to follow Yellen and Blinken to China later this year.
Blinken said last week the visits were only to “re-establish sustainable lines of communication” with Chinese officials.
“The importance is that they’re talking,” said David Loevinger, who helped the Obama administration coordinate US-China economic talks.
He told the Washington Post, “It’s striking how little communication there is at all levels of the US and Chinese governments.”
“We need to be able to talk and build relationships where people can pick up the phone.”
Their visit came amid simmering Chinese anger over Biden’s “dictator” remark.
Biden, in off-the-cuff remarks at a fundraiser, said Xi was embarrassed by recent tensions surrounding a suspected Chinese spy balloon shot down by the Air Force over the east coast.
“The reason Xi Jinping was very upset when I shot down the balloon with two train cars full of spy equipment was because he didn’t know he was there,” Biden said, citing the February incident.
“It’s a great embarrassment for dictators.” When they didn’t know what was happening. This shouldn’t lead to where it was. It’s gone off course.’
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said that Biden’s remarks “completely contradict the facts and seriously violate diplomatic protocol and seriously violate China’s political dignity.”
“It is an obvious political provocation.” “China is expressing great dissatisfaction and opposition,” Mao said at a daily briefing.
“The statements made by the US are extremely absurd and irresponsible.”
Mao repeated China’s claim that the balloon was intended for meteorological research and accidentally went off course.
“The US should have dealt with it calmly and professionally,” she said.
“However, the US distorted the facts and used violence to exaggerate the incident, fully revealing the character of harassment and hegemony.”
The US recommended that Americans reconsider travel to China — particularly passengers at Beijing Capital International Airport
Alert warns US citizens traveling to China “could be detained without access to US consular services or information about their alleged crime”
On Friday, the United States recommended that Americans reconsider a trip to China because of arbitrary prosecutions and travel bans and the risk of unlawful detention.
No specific cases were cited, but the statement came after a 78-year-old US citizen was sentenced to life in prison on espionage charges in May.
It also followed the passage last week of a sweeping foreign relations law threatening reprisals against those deemed harmful to China’s interests.
China also recently passed a sweeping counterintelligence law that has shaken the foreign business community. Offices were raided and a law sanctioning foreign critics was passed.
“The government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) arbitrarily enforces local laws, including imposing travel bans on U.S. citizens and citizens of other countries, without a fair and transparent process under the law,” the U.S. advisory said.
“US citizens traveling or residing in the PRC could be detained without access to US consular services or information about their alleged crime,” she warned.
The report also states that the Chinese authorities “appear to have wide discretion to consider a wide range of documents, data, statistics or materials as state secrets and to arrest and prosecute foreign nationals for alleged espionage.”
It listed a wide range of potential crimes, from taking part in demonstrations to sending electronic messages critical of Chinese politics to simply doing research in areas deemed sensitive.
Travel bans could be used to coerce individuals to participate in Chinese government investigations, pressure family members to return from abroad, resolve civil disputes on behalf of Chinese citizens, and “gain bargaining power vis-à-vis foreign governments,” the statement said the appraisal.
Similar notices have been issued for the semi-autonomous Chinese regions of Hong Kong and Macau. They were dated on Friday and emailed to journalists on Monday.
The US has issued similar warnings to its citizens in the past, but in recent years has focused on the dangers of strict and protracted lockdowns, while China closed its borders for three years as part of its draconian “zero-COVID” policy lock.
China has generally reacted angrily to what it sees as US efforts to challenge its authoritarian Communist Party-led system. It has issued its own travel warnings for the USA, warning of crime risks, anti-Asian discrimination and the high costs of emergency medical aid.
China had no immediate response to the travel warning on Monday.
Details of the allegations against accused spy John Shing-Wan Leung are not available given China’s authoritarian political system and the ruling Communist Party’s absolute control over legal affairs.
Alleged spy John Shing-Wan Leung was sentenced to life imprisonment for espionage
Leung, who is also a permanent resident of Hong Kong, was arrested in the southeastern city of Suzhou on April 15, 2021 – at a time when China had closed its borders and severely restricted domestic movement of people to stem the spread of COVID-19 .
Along with several detained Americans, two Chinese-Australians – Cheng Lei, who used to work for China’s state broadcaster, and the writer Yang Jun – have been held since 2020 and 2019 respectively, with no word known about their conviction.
Perhaps the most notorious case of arbitrary detention involved two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who were arrested in China in 2018, shortly after Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, CFO of Huawei Technologies and daughter of the tech group’s founder, on US extradition requests.
They were charged with never-solved national security crimes and released three years later after the US settled allegations of fraud against Meng.
Many countries have labeled China’s actions as “hostage policies.”