Pearls and Irritations

Blinken’s trip was followed by Biden’s insults, the promising Bali summit was followed by further China containment measures. Clearly, Washington has yet to show Beijing it is sincere in its efforts.

Every Chinese is taught from a young age, through the country’s history and culture, to be a person of integrity, to walk the talk, and treat others with respect. Call me naive, but I also believe integrity should be the basic principle for interactions between countries. However, given the behaviour of the US, the most powerful country in the world, I’m starting to have doubts.

Last week, US President Joe Biden called President Xi Jinping a “dictator” and dismissed China as a country with “real economic difficulties”, right after he had sent US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Beijing to seek rapprochement. The Chinese embassy in Washington said that after this “political provocation”, “people cannot help but question the sincerity of the US side”.

Three days before Biden’s disparaging remarks, Xi, while meeting Blinken, made clear China’s integrity in its relations with the US, and demanded the same. “China respects the interests of the United States and does not seek to challenge or displace the United States”, he said, adding that “the United States must also respect China and not harm China’s legitimate rights and interests”.

Clearly, Beijing already felt the US had treated it with little or no respect and had not taken China’s concerns and interests into consideration. Bilateral relations are now widely seen to be at their lowest level since the establishment of diplomatic ties, and trapped in a downward spiral.

Meanwhile, the consensus in Washington on a tough China policy continues to strengthen. A bipartisan majority in Congress has worked closely with the Biden administration to devise a policy framework aimed at the all-round containment of China’s influence.

Since the 118th US Congress began in January, it has put forward numerous China-related proposals including on trade, human rights, finance, energy, security, public health, science and technology, agriculture, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet.

US-China trade war timeline
All the key dates since July 2018

6 July 2018
US places 25 per cent duties on around US$34 billion of imports from China, including cars, hard disks and aircraft parts. China retaliates by imposing a 25 per cent tariff on 545 goods
originating from the US worth US$34 billion, including agricultural products, automobiles and aquatic products

23 August 2018
Washington imposes 25 per cent tariffs on a further US$16 billion of Chinese goods, including iron and steel products, electrical machinery, railway products, instruments and apparatus. China
responds by applying 25 per cent tariffs on US$16 billion of US goods, including Harley-Davidson motorcycles, bourbon and orange juice

24 September, 2018
US places 10 per cent taxes on US$200 billion of Chinese imports. China responds by placing customs duties on US$60 billion of US goods

1 December 2018
Xi Jinping and US counterpart Donald Trump agree to a ceasefire at the G20 summit in Argentina, with the US suspending a tariff from 10 per cent to 25 per cent on US$200 billion of Chinese goods that was due to come into force on January 1

14 December 2018
After trade negotiations break down, the US increases tariffs on US$200 billion worth of Chinese goods from 10 per cent to 25 per cent. China responds by announcing that it will increase tariffs on US$60 billion worth of US goods from June 1

10 May 2019
After trade negotiations break down, the US increases tariffs on US$200 billion worth of Chinese goods from 10 per cent to 25 per cent. China responds by announcing that it will increase tariffs on US$60 billion worth of US goods from June 1

15 May 2019
US Department of Commerce announces the addition of Huawei to its “entity list’, which effectively bans US companies from selling to the Chinese telecommunications company without approval

31 May 2019
China announces that it will establish its own unreliable entities list

1 June, 2019
China increases tariffs on US$60 billion worth of US products

29 June, 2019
Xi Jinping and Donald Trump agree a trade war truce at the G20 summit in Japan, delaying the imposition of new US tariffs of up to 25 per cent on US$300 billion worth of Chinese goods

1 August, 2019
Donald Trump announces plans to impose a 10 per cent tariff on US$300 billion of Chinese goods from September 1

5 August, 2019
US designates China as a “currency manipulator” after the yuan weakened to below 7 to the US dollar

13 August, 2019
Donald Trump announces that planned levies on many of the US$300 billion of Chinese products threatened to start in September 2019 have either been delayed or removed. Levies of 10 per cent on US$155 billion of products such as including phones, laptop computers and video game consoles will be delayed until December 15.

23 August, 2019
China announces tariffs of 5 and 10 per cent on US$75 billion of US goods from September 1 and December 15. China also confirms it will reinstate tariffs on US cars and car parts from December 15

1 September, 2019
US tariffs on more than US$125 billion worth of Chinese imports begins as expected

11 September, 2019
China announces that it will offer exemptions to 16 types of US imports from additional tariffs, which include products such as pesticides, animal feeds, lubricants, and cancer drugs. Donald Trump agrees to delay new tariffs on US$250 billion worth of Chinese goods from October 1 to October 15 as a good will gesture to avoid the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China

13 September, 2019
China announces it will exclude imports of US soybeans, pork, and other farm goods from additional trade war tariffs

11 October, 2019
US announces that it will delay a planned tariff increase of 25 per cent to 30 per cent on US$250 billion of Chinese goods set for October 15 following trade talks in Washington

13 December, 2019
China and the US agree to a phase one trade deal days before a 15 per cent tariff was set to be imposed on around US$160 billion of Chinese goods. The US agree to reduce tariffs on US$120 billion of Chinese goods imposed in September. China suspended tariffs on US goods also due to come into force on December 15

15 January, 2020
China and the US sign a phase one trade deal. As part of the deal, China agree to buy an additional US$200 billion of American goods and services over the next two years. The deal results in the suspension of a planned December tariff on around US$162 billion in Chinese goods, with an existing 15 per cent duty on imports worth around US$110 billion halved

14 February, 2020
China halves additional tariffs on US$75 billion of American products imposed in 2019, including automotive and agricultural goods like pork, chicken, beef and soybeans, chemicals, crude oil, whiskey, and seafood. China also lifted an import ban on live poultry products from the US

12 May, 2020
China announces a second batch of trade war tariff exemptions covering 79 American products, including ores, chemicals and certain medical products

14 May, 2020
China allows imports of barley and blueberries from the US

14 July, 2020
The US Department of Agriculture announces that China booked its biggest single-day corn purchase, buying 1.762 million tonnes

1 September, 2020
Dozens of US imports from China, including disposable face masks, respirators, Bluetooth tracking devices and musical instruments, are granted short extensions to previous tariff exemptions until the end of 2020

14 September, 2020
US customs agency issues Withhold Release Orders, banning cotton, apparel, hair products and computer parts from four Xinjiang companies

15 September, 2020
China decides to exempt additional tariffs on a batch of 16 US products, including shrimp seeds, grease oil and medicines, for another year

2 December, 2020
US government says it will begin to block the import of all cotton products made by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC)

2 December, 2020
US president-elect Joe Biden tells The New York Times he will not make any ‘immediate moves’ to lift trade war tariffs ahead of review

18 February, 2021
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen tells CNBC that tariffs on China put in place by the Trump administration will be ‘kept in place for the moment’

27 May, 2021
China Vice-Premier Liu He and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai speak by telephone in the first trade talks since August 2020

2 June, 2021
China Vice-Premier Liu He holds a ‘candid’ exchange on issues of concern with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen

10 June, 2021
China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao speaks with his American counterpart Gina Raimondo

4 October, 2021
USTR Katherine Tai says that the Biden administration will ‘keep open the potential for additional exclusion processes, as some tariffs are causing significant commercial harm to US interests’

8 October, 2021
China Vice-Premier Liu He and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai speak by telephone for a second time

26 October, 2021
China Vice-Premier Liu He and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speak by telephone

1 November, 2021
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says the United States expects China to meet its commitments under the phase-one trade deal

4 November, 2021
Sinopec, China’s state-owned oil giant, signs a contract with the US Venture Global LNG to buy 4 million tonnes of LNG annually for 20 years

9 November, 2021
US extends ban that prohibits American investments in Chinese companies that have alleged ties with the Chinese military

16 November, 2021
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets US counterpart Joe Biden for the first time in video call

19 January, 2022
US President Joe Biden says he won’t lift tariffs on Chinese imports since Beijing has not abided by the phase-one trade deal

26 January, 2022
WTO authorises China to impose US$645 million of compensatory tariffs against the US after a decade-long case into alleged subsidies

8 February, 2022
Report says China bought only 57 per cent of the US exports it committed to purchase under the phase-one trade deal

23 March, 2022
US reinstates tariff exemptions on more than 350 Chinese imports

22 April, 2022
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says lifting tariffs on certain Chinese goods could help alleviate the high inflation

3 May, 2022
US begins statutory process that could ultimately end up removing tariffs on Chinese goods

10 May, 2022
Joe Biden says that discussions are ongoing about potentially dropping trade tariffs on China that were imposed by his predecessor

18 June, 2022
Joe Biden said he’ll be talking to counterpart Xi Jinping ‘soon’ and is weighing possible action on US tariffs on Chinese goods that were imposed by the Trump administration

21 June, 2022
Uygur Forced Labour Prevention Act takes effect

5 July, 2022
China Vice-Premier Liu He holds a ‘pragmatic and frank’ exchange on issues of concern with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen

5 July, 2022
More than 400 requests to keep tariffs in place on Chinese goods are submitted to the US Trade Representative’s office

14 November, 2022
President Xi Jinping meets US counterpart Joe Biden at the G20 summit in Indonesia

23 November, 2022
US says it will extend exemptions from punitive tariffs for some medical products from China

9 December, 2022
WTO rules against US tariffs imposed on steel and aluminium imports in case brought by China and other countries

27 January, 2023
US appeals against WTO verdicts on steel tariffs on China and other countries

18 January, 2023
China Vice-Premier Liu He holds a ‘candid, substantive, and constructive’ exchange with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in Zurich

China sees this as a serious miscalculation. The US misperception that China is its biggest threat and the “most consequential geopolitical challenge” is the cause of the deadlock in China-US relations.

Any positive signals from Blinken’s visit may have been jeopardised by Biden’s insults. This includes an agreement to effectively manage and control differences, promote dialogue and maintain high-level exchanges.

Both sides also agreed to continue consultations on the guiding principles of China-US relations, resolve issues through the joint working groups, encourage more cultural and educational exchanges, increase passenger flights between the two countries, and welcome more students, scholars and businesspeople.

Blinken’s visit was seen as having halted the downward spiral in relations, but after Biden’s comments, how relations will now improve is anyone’s guess; as far as Beijing is concerned, Uncle Sam simply fails to consistently practise what he preaches.

There is a precedent. Last November in Bali, Xi and Biden agreed to work out the guiding principles of Sino-US relations. Xi made clear the red lines on issues including Taiwan, democracy and human rights, China’s political system, and science and technology. But, since then, US actions to counter China have seriously undermined that consensus.

Take Taiwan, for example. The US claims it does not support Taiwan’s independence – a stand Blinken was at pains to reinforce in Beijing – yet it remains a major arms supplier to the island.

It has long maintained a policy of what it calls strategic ambiguity, supplying weapons to Taiwan and allowing Tsai Ing-wen to “transit” in America and meet US officials, while sailing US warships through the Taiwan Strait in the name of freedom of navigation and promising to maintain peace and stability across the strait.

It has long maintained a policy of what it calls strategic ambiguity, supplying weapons to Taiwan and allowing Tsai Ing-wen to “transit” in America and meet US officials, while sailing US warships through the Taiwan Strait in the name of freedom of navigation and promising to maintain peace and stability across the strait.

The self-contradiction in America’s China policy is not limited to Taiwan. The US has repeatedly stressed the importance of high-level communications and in particular called for dialogue between the two countries’ militaries. Yet, it does not seem to think that Beijing’s rebuffs have anything to do with keeping China’s defence minister on its sanctions list or because its all-round containment of China has not stopped.

China has learned its lesson from dealing with the US over the past decades. Beijing welcomes sincere dialogue and communication. But any attempt to use these as a tool for coercion or a stage for a political performance is unacceptable.

China is amenable to US efforts to stabilise bilateral relations – but it cannot compromise on its principles and interests. The US cannot talk about stability while doing things that shake the foundation of Sino-US relations. The US should follow through on its commitments and show its sincerity through concrete action, instead of saying one thing and doing another.

Blinken’s visit was described across Western media – but mostly in the US – as a “high stakes” trip. High stakes implies a gamble, and serious risks if there is no success. Such a description again exposes the binary thinking of the US on China, the American zero-sum mindset. Blinken arrived in Beijing on a sunny day with clear blue skies – yet, to some, looking through a Western media lens, it was all grey and gloomy. The hostility towards China never seems to stop.

There are those who believe Blinken’s visit has kept alive the hope that China-US relations can return to normal. I have my doubts – though a still-naive part of me hopes the US will learn to match its deeds to its words.

 

Original article published in South China Morning Post on 27 June, 2023.