Is this the hoped-for thaw in US-China relations or a new era of managing differences?

Talks between senior Chinese and US officials in recent weeks have given hope that tension between the world’s two great powers could be easing. In the first of a three-part series on China-US relations, Orange Wang looks at whether the recent reengagement signals a turning point for a more stable relationship.

Nearly four months after the Chinese balloon incident blew rapprochement attempts out of the sky, a series of public engagements involving Chinese and US senior officials seemed to offer hope.

In late May, the two powers had their first cabinet-level exchange in Washington under the Biden administration, with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao having talks with his US counterpart Gina Raimondo, and later meeting US trade representative Katherine Tai in Detroit.

And, after a record five-month vacancy, Beijing finally sent its new ambassador, Xie Feng, to Washington last month. Xie met US undersecretary of state Victoria Nuland on May 25 and undersecretary of treasury Jay Shambaugh on June 2.

US State Secretary Antony Blinken is also reportedly expected to travel to China in coming weeks after Daniel Kritenbrink, assistant US secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, and Sarah Beran, senior director for China and Taiwan affairs at the National Security Council, visited Beijing this month.

But experts in both countries warn that despite the recent high-level contact, it is still hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel for US-China tensions, with persistent deep mutual distrust and little time left for Washington and Beijing to mend their strained ties.

In late May, following a 10-hour meeting between Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, in Vienna, the US president said the balloon incident was “silly” and he expected a thaw with Beijing “very shortly”.