US-China ties avoid free-fall, but recent talks show the future will not be problem-free

Four high-level US visits to China have helped get the relationship on better footing but a substantive breakthrough remains uncertain, observers say

Atmosphere of mistrust in economic and geopolitical spheres makes a reset of ties extremely unlikely in the near term, according to experts

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Gina Raimondo attends a press conference at the Boeing Shanghai Aviation Services near the Shanghai Pudong International Airport on Wednesday. The US commerce secretary called for further engagement with Beijing following her China visit. Photo: Reuters

Published: 10:00am, 1 Sep 2023

Four recent high-level US visits to China have helped to shore up ties enough to keep the bilateral relationship from slipping into a free-fall, but a substantive breakthrough remains elusive between the rivals, according to experts.

The engagement has raised expectations for a meeting between the country’s two leaders during the coming Apec summit, they said, noting the important role the event plays in ties between the two nations.

The visit to Beijing by US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo – the fourth official of the Biden administration to visit China in the past three months – has sounded some upbeat notes in the struggling relationship with a “deliverable” of new communication channels, including a commercial issues working group, an information exchange on export controls, and a China-US tourism summit next year.

Calling her time in Beijing and Shanghai this week “very successful and productive” and “an excellent start”, Raimondo said she was leaving China with “some optimism” as she wrapped up her visit on Wednesday. Before her trip, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and special climate envoy John Kerry have made similar visits.

However, Washington and Beijing have continued to lock horns on a wide range of issues – from a new “Nato-like alliance” in northeast Asia and a tech war, to territorial disputes in the South China Sea and tensions in the Taiwan Strait.

The relationship between the two countries has “structural contradictions”, said Wang Wen, executive dean of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University in Beijing.

“Mutual visits by senior officials from both sides can help prevent the bilateral relationship from sliding to its worst level,” he said.

US-China ties avoid free-fall, but recent talks show the future will not be problem-free

Four high-level US visits to China have helped get the relationship on better footing but a substantive breakthrough remains uncertain, observers say Atmosphere of mistrust in economic and geopolitical spheres makes a reset of ties extremely unlikely in the near term, according to experts

Four high-level US visits to China have helped get the relationship on better footing but a substantive breakthrough remains uncertain, observers say

Atmosphere of mistrust in economic and geopolitical spheres makes a reset of ties extremely unlikely in the near term, according to experts