The official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Communist Party of China published on August 31 that Xi Jinping replied to Easterbrook on the 29th. Xi Jinping expressed his gratitude to Easterbrook for sharing the story of Stilwell and his family’s friendly exchanges with China for generations in his letter. He believes that from the Stilwell family, he can feel the “friendship of the American people to the Chinese people.” He also stated that “General Stilwell is an old friend of the Chinese people” and has made positive contributions to the friendship between the Chinese and American peoples. The Chinese people will never forget this.
Xi Jinping emphasized that looking back at the past, China and the United States fought side by side to fight against Japanese fascism and strive for world peace. And “looking into the future, China and the United States can also achieve mutual success and common prosperity.”
Stilwell was a four-star general of the U.S. Army before his death. He was stationed in China for three years during World War II.
Xi Jinping’s reply came during the visit of U.S. Secretary of Commerce Raimondo to China. The outside world believed that Xi Jinping seemed to convey his desire to break the ice in U.S.-China friendship.
During Raimondo’s visit to China, the Chinese side softened its posture and expressed goodwill. When three important officials of the Biden administration, including US Secretary of State Blinken, Treasury Secretary Yellen, and climate envoy Kerry, visited China, the Chinese side claimed that the relevant visit was negotiated by the two sides. , and Raimondo’s visit to China, the Chinese side said “at the invitation of the Chinese side”, which gave Raimondo enough face.
Raimondo plays a key role in the U.S.-China trade war. From export control and investment restrictions to blacklisting Chinese companies, most of the U.S. sanctions against China are under the leadership of Raimondo. under the Ministry’s authority.
According to Reuters, Raimondo said that while some actions by the Chinese government are positive, the practical level needs to match the rhetoric.
She emphasized that American businesses want to do business in China, but they need a predictable policy management environment.
Raimondo concluded her four-day visit to China on the 30th. At a press conference before leaving Shanghai, she said that the biggest achievement of her trip to China was the establishment of a regular communication mechanism with the Chinese side, which is a step forward. stride. However, she stressed that the United States will not make concessions on the issue of export control. The establishment of an information exchange mechanism on export control is not an opportunity for China to seek concessions, but an opportunity to share information and increase transparency.
Raimondo said the United States does not want to “decouple” from China. However, she told the media on the high-speed train from Beijing to Shanghai on the 29th that many American companies complained to her that China has become “unable to invest”, and pointed out that fines, surprise inspections and other actions have made them the world’s second largest economy. Doing business as a whole has become risky. It was one of Raimondo’s most outspoken comments of the trip.
“I’m hearing more and more from the American business community that China is not a good place to invest because the risks have become too great,” Raimondo said.
Raimondo also said that American companies face new challenges in China, including high fines without any explanation, revisions to the anti-espionage law with unclear content that have impacted the American business community, and raids on companies. “We need these to be addressed,” she stressed.
During a meeting with Chen Jining, Secretary of the Communist Party of China Shanghai Municipal Committee on the 30th, Raimondo said that she hoped to discuss “we can cooperate to achieve business goals, promote a more predictable business environment, a predictable policy management environment and a participation for American businesses. way of leveling the playing field”.
Chen Jining said that the stability of Sino-US relations is of utmost importance to the world. He said that Shanghai is the place where American companies are most concentrated.
Chen Jining said: “Economic and trade relations are the ballast stone of Sino-US relations, but today’s world is quite complicated, and economic recovery is somewhat weak. Therefore, maintaining a stable bilateral relationship in terms of trade and commerce is in the interests of both countries, as well as the interests of the international community .”
Raimondo’s trip In addition to establishing new communication channels and setting up a working group, the two sides also agreed to convene their respective experts to conduct technical discussions on strengthening the protection of commercial secrets and confidential information, and regularly discuss business at ministerial and ministerial levels. Communicate with economic issues and meet face-to-face at least once a year.
“I see this as a mild de-escalation of (U.S.-China) tensions over the past two or three years.” Thomas Duesterberg told VOA that this is a further sign that both sides are determined to lower the temperature in the U.S.-China relationship, and that establishing some form of dialogue and meeting regularly to discuss some contentious issues in the future is part of that process. In addition, it also shows that Beijing is “very concerned about the state of its economy, very concerned that the actions of the United States and its allies may further weaken the Chinese economy in some ways, such as through export controls, and they are willing to have this dialogue.”
According to the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics of the Communist Party of China on the 31st, the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) in August was 49.7%. Although it was 0.4 percentage points higher than that in July, it has been in the contraction range for five consecutive months, reflecting that the economy is still weak.
The “Wall Street Journal” said that policy makers are facing more pressure to revive economic growth as consumers tighten their purse strings and stop spending recklessly, and factories are hit by falling exports.
“Beijing is interested in working with the United States to identify practical areas in the economic relationship where cooperation is possible,” Wendy Cutler, deputy director of the Asia Society Policy Institute, told Reuters.
Although the United States and China have reached a rare consensus on deepening communication, analysts warn that it is far from being too optimistic.
Allen Carlson, director of the China and Asia-Pacific Studies Program at Cornell University, noted that the exchange of information on export control enforcement was a pleasant surprise, but should not be read too much as potentially creating some kind of tension in the relationship between the two countries. turning point. Carlson noted that Beijing and Washington are still far apart on key economic issues, not to mention security-related issues, both in terms of the statements and context. “At best this is a small step in the direction of stabilizing a relationship that remains fraught with risks and fragility.”
2023-08-31 09:20:51
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