A senior US senator, leading the first congressional trip to China in four years, yesterday said that the US does not want to cut economic ties with the world’s second-largest economy, but seeks a level playing field so that US companies can compete freely.
US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and five other senators arrived in Shanghai earlier in the day on a three-country tour that is to also take them to South Korea and Japan. The trip comes amid a sharp deterioration in relations between the US and China and as officials try to lay the groundwork for a possible meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) next month.
“We are prepared to compete, but we do not seek to conflict,” Schumer told Chinese Communist Party Secretary of Shanghai Chen Jining (陳吉寧) shortly after the delegation’s arrival.
Photo: AFP
Chen avoided specific issues in his public remarks, saying that a healthy and stable China-US relationship would benefit the entire world.
Noting the presence of 5,640 US companies in Shanghai, he said he is happy to have the opportunity to discuss how to promote trade at a local level.
The US has placed tariff and other trade restrictions on China over national security, human rights and other concerns, and blocked access to advanced semiconductors and other key technologies. China has accused the US of seeking to contain its economic development as it emerges as a global power and potential threat to the US-led international order.
Schumer said the US wants Chinese to have increased economic opportunities, but that many Americans feel China does not treat US companies fairly.
“We believe we need reciprocity allowing American companies to compete as freely in China as Chinese companies are able to compete here,” he said.
Schumer also raised the issue of Chinese companies that have stopped making fentanyl, but which the US government says continue to supply the ingredients for production of the opioid in Mexico.
“They are fueling the fentanyl crisis that is poisoning communities across the United States,” he said. “Every one of us knows families who have lost young men and women to fentanyl.”
China has said that it maintains strict control of the chemicals to ensure they are not exported for illegal purposes and that the US should stop shifting the blame for its failure to curb drug abuse.
In a reminder of the tensions between the two countries, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce yesterday said that new US restrictions placed on 42 Chinese companies were “a typical act of economic coercion and unilateral bullying.”
The US Department of Commerce on Friday added the Chinese companies and seven others to its entity list.
It said the companies supplied “US-origin” semiconductors that Russia uses for missile guidance systems and drones in the war against Ukraine.
US companies cannot export to organizations on the entity list without obtaining a special license.
A Chinese international relations expert said that Schumer’s visit is a sign of improvement in China-US relations.
The senators hope to meet Xi in Beijing during their visit.
“If the talks proceed well, there is the possibility that President Xi will meet Schumer,” said Wang Yiwei (王義桅), director of Renmin University’s Institute of International Affairs. “If their meeting is realized, the chances for a Xi-Biden meeting will become greater.”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued a sea alert for Typhoon Fung-wong (鳳凰) as it threatened vessels operating in waters off the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島), the Bashi Channel and south of the Taiwan Strait. A land alert is expected to be announced some time between late last night and early this morning, the CWA said. As of press time last night, Taoyuan, as well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties had declared today a typhoon day, canceling work and classes. Except for a few select districts in Taipei and New Taipei City, all other areas and city
VIOLATION OF NORMS: China’s CCTV broadcast claimed that Beijing could use Interpol to issue arrest warrants, which the MAC slammed as an affront to order The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for attempts to intimidate Taiwanese through “transnational repression.” The council issued the remarks after state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) yesterday during a news broadcast aired a video targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋), threatening him with “cross-border repression” and saying: “Stop now, or you will be next,” in what Taipei officials said was an attempt to intimidate not only Shen, but also the broader Taiwanese public. The MAC in a statement condemned the threat, accusing Beijing of trying to instill fear and self-censorship among Taiwanese and
RSS