Sullivan in China, Faces Flak from Enemy

[ABS News Service/04.09.2024]

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing last week, where the two sides agreed to initiate a call between the heads of state of both countries “in the coming weeks.”

US efforts to curtail Chinese access to advanced tech, including semiconductors, were criticized by Mr. Wang, with the top Chinese diplomat calling on Washington to stop politicizing trade issues.

“The United States should stop suppressing China in the fields of economy, trade and science and technology, and stop undermining China's legitimate interests,” Wang said. “Using ‘overcapacity’ as an excuse to engage in protectionism will only harm global green development and affect world economic growth.”

But the ongoing trade war between the world’s two largest economies is only likely to worsen, experts warned, as both U.S. presidential candidates have pledged to maintain a tough stance on China, with Trump even threatening a blanket tariff of 60 percent or higher on Chinese imports.

US to Hold Firm

Mr. Sullivan made it clear that Washington “will continue to take necessary actions to prevent advanced US technologies from being used to undermine our national security,” while raising concerns about what he called “unfair” Chinese trade policies and “nonmarket economic practices.”

The national security adviser also criticized China’s provision of dual-use goods to Russia such as microchips, arguing that this amounts to supporting Moscow’s defense industrial base and is impacting European security as it continues to make incremental territorial gains in Ukraine.

Separately, Commerce Undersecretary for International Trade Marisa Lago will travel to Beijing and Tianjin, China, and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, beginning today to advance US commercial interests in both countries.

In Tianjin, Under Secretary Lago will co-lead the second US-China Commercial Issues Working Group Vice-Ministerial meeting, where she will advocate for a level playing field for US businesses in China and discuss discrete commercial issues raised by the US business community.

In Beijing, she will meet with Chinese officials and US business representatives to explore commercial opportunities in the healthcare and climate sectors.

In Ulaanbaatar, she will meet with senior Mongolian government officials and US and Mongolian business leaders, including a roundtable with Mongolian businesswomen, to discuss opportunities to strengthen the country’s business environment and two-way trade and investment