China’s top diplomat is to visit the US this week, becoming the highest-level Chinese official to make the trip since US President Donald Trump was elected.
Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi (楊潔篪) was to meet with senior US officials yesterday and today to discuss “bilateral ties and issues of common concern,” the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced late on Sunday.
US-China relations have been strained by Trump’s criticisms of Beijing’s handling of North Korea and its trade policies, as well as his questioning of Washington’s long-standing “one China” policy.
Xinhua news agency confirmed Yang would be the first senior Chinese official to visit the US since Trump took office.
At the top of the agenda are the arrangements for a meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), a researcher at the China Institute of International Studies told Xinhua.
It remains unclear when the two leaders are to have their first encounter, said Tao Wenzhao (陶文昭) a senior fellow at the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
He said it would be important for both countries to first address some of the issues that have divided them.
“On this visit, it’s important for the two sides to move forward their communication,” he said.
They “will carry out a wide-ranging discussion on various global problems and form a consensus. On that basis, the two countries’ leaders can meet,” he added.
The relationship got off to a rocky start after Trump accepted a telephone call from President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), angering China by breaking decades of diplomatic precedent.
He upped the ante by suggesting he might recognize Taiwan’s sovereignty unless China was willing to negotiate more favorable trade terms with the US.
Seeking to clean up the fallout, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson earlier this month met with Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) at a G20 meeting in Germany, where Tillerson urged Beijing to help rein in North Korea after its series of nuclear and ballistic missile tests.
Tensions between the two countries have eased somewhat since Trump reaffirmed Washington’s “one China” policy in a conciliatory phone call with Xi earlier this month.
Since then, Beijing has stepped up its pressure on Pyongyang by announcing a ban on imports of coal from North Korea.
On the US presidential campaign trail last year, Trump regularly attacked China for stealing US jobs and running a massive, unfairly won trade surplus with the US which he would reverse by whatever means necessary.
Tao said he was “optimistic” the relationship would soon be back on track.
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