Unite with Washington against China, US treasury chief urges Europe

Janet Yellen said Western democracies had become ‘too vulnerable’ and ‘should all aspire to encouraging China to drop objectionable practices’

‘China is more likely to respond favourably if it cannot play one of us off against another,’ the US treasury secretary told the Brussels Economic Forum

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Janet Yellen, US treasury secretary, speaks at the Brussels Economic Forum in Belgium on Tuesday. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 8:21pm, 17 May 2022

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that Western democracies have become “too vulnerable” to countries that use their market positions as geopolitical leverage, and called for the United States and Europe to coordinate their approach towards China after having united against Russia.

“We have a common interest in incentivising China to refrain from economic practices that have disadvantaged us all,” Yellen said in a speech in Brussels on Tuesday. “These practices range from those affecting trade and investment, to development and climate policies, to approaches to provide debt relief to countries facing unsustainable debt burdens.”

Yellen said there’s “a strong case for pursuing common goals jointly, not unilaterally.” In that way, “China is more likely to respond favourably if it cannot play one of us off against another,” she said.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is silhouetted against a sign as she leaves the stage at the Brussels Economic Forum. Photo: AP

Chinese President Xi Jinping has assiduously sought to persuade the European Union to maintain a “strategic autonomy” amid the deepening US-China superpower rivalry. He delivered that message directly in calls with his German and French counterparts earlier this month.

Yellen, delivering an annual lecture at the Brussels Economic Forum, said “We should all aspire to encouraging China to drop objectionable practices. If we can do so, we will stand a better chance of competing with China on a level playing field, which will benefit our businesses and consumers.”

‘Too vulnerable’

The Treasury chief was speaking little more than a month after her most strident remarks to date on China, blasting Beijing for practices that “unfairly damage” the national-security interests of others.