In the past four years, China-US relations went into free fall under the Trump administration. Although President Joe Biden has taken office, few expect that bilateral relations will return to the pre-Trump era, as Washington has reached a bipartisan consensus on a tough China policy.
So far, the two countries have not resumed direct high-level talks, although both sides have tentatively spelled out their approaches to each other. In an online conversation with the US-based National Committee on US-China Relations on February 2, China’s State Councilor and top diplomat Yang Jiechi said that the two sides “stand at a key moment” to rebuild ties after “misguided policies” of former president Donald Trump.
Calling on the US to “rise above the outdated mentality of zero-sum, major-power rivalry and work with China to keep the relationship on the right track,” Yang warned the US not to interfere China’s internal affairs, including on issues involving the Tibet Autonomous Region, Hong Kong and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which he said were a “red line that must not be crossed.”
In Biden's first phone call as president with his Chinese counterpart on February 10, he raised concerns about China's "coercive and unfair economic practices," something similar to Trump's rhetoric, as well as the Hong Kong, Taiwan and Xinjiang issues. In response, Chinese President Xi Jinping should cautiously handle matters related to China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
As the future of the China-US relationship under the Biden administration remains uncertain, NewsChina invited a group of Chinese experts to share their insights about what the two sides can and should do to prevent the relationship between the world’s two largest economies from further deterioration.
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