US sees ‘progress’ in China competition even amid unchanged bilateral policy, State Department says

Ahead of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s highly anticipated trip to Beijing next month, a senior State Department official stressed that “progress” is visible in the administration’s China policy of “compete, contest and cooperate” even as its overarching strategy remains unchanged.

“President [Joe] Biden has been clear on this: to compete we have to improve our own situation,” said Jose Fernandez, Undersecretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, hailing the passage and implementation of legislation meant to curb China.

Blinken is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart, Qin Gang, on February 5-6 in Beijing, following up Biden’s talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Bali last November. The leaders had agreed to maintain “open lines of communication”.

China and the US have been locked in a battle for supremacy in technology innovation and production capabilities to maximise national gains at each other’s expense. Tensions soared in 2018 when then President Donald Trump imposed unilateral trade tariffs on Chinese imports worth over $300 billion.

When Biden succeeded Trump in 2020, some thought he would undo the tariffs and mitigate the ill will felt in the bilateral relationship, having worked with Xi when both men were vice-presidents.