US to stress need for 'guard rails' in talks with China

Ahead of session, China's top diplomat warns it won't accept 'superior' stance taken by US

US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman (centre) visiting the Choijin Lama Temple Museum in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on Saturday, as part of her Asian trip. She was scheduled to arrive in China yesterday.
US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman (centre) visiting the Choijin Lama Temple Museum in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on Saturday, as part of her Asian trip. She was scheduled to arrive in China yesterday. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

BEIJING • US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman will tell China in talks that while Washington welcomes competition, there needs to be a level playing field and guard rails to ensure ties do not veer into conflict, said US officials.

The officials, briefing reporters ahead of Ms Sherman's talks in Tianjin with Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi today, said the world's two largest economies needed responsible ways to manage competition.

"She's going to underscore that we do not want that stiff and sustained competition to veer into conflict," one senior US administration official said ahead of the first high-ranking, face-to-face contact between Washington and Beijing in months as the two sides gauge how they can ease festering ties.

"The US wants to ensure that there are guard rails and parameters in place to responsibly manage the relationship," he said. "Everyone needs to play by the same rules and on a level playing field."

A day ahead of Ms Sherman's arrival yesterday, Mr Wang, China's top diplomat, warned that Beijing did not accept Washington taking a "superior" position in the relationship.

"If the US has not learnt how to deal with other countries on an equal footing, then we have the responsibility to work with the international community to teach the United States this lesson," he said, in remarks posted on China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs' website.

Following Ms Sherman's trip, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin will travel to Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit India. These are signs of US efforts to intensify engagement with Asia as China challenges America's influence in the region.

Ms Sherman's talks follow several combative months since the countries' first senior diplomatic meeting under President Joe Biden's administration in March.

Chinese officials publicly lambasted the US at that meeting in Alaska, accusing it of hegemonic policies. US officials accused China of grandstanding.

The Tianjin meeting would be a continuation of the Alaskan talks and "all dimensions of the relationship will be on the table", the US official said on Saturday.

Since the Alaska meeting, the two countries have traded diplomatic barbs on an almost constant basis. The latest came last Friday when Beijing sanctioned former US commerce secretary Wilbur Ross and other individuals and groups in response to US sanctions over China's crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong.

With bilateral ties so poor, foreign policy experts do not expect significant outcomes from Tianjin.

But if the talks go reasonably well, they could help set the stage for a meeting between President Biden and President Xi Jinping, possibly on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit in Italy in October.

"If the trust is there, both sides can use these talks to discuss cooperation on bilateral issues like removing the restriction on diplomats and students visas, and on multilateral issues involving Iran, Afghanistan, Myanmar, climate change," said Dr Wu Xinbo, director of American Studies at Shanghai's Fudan University.

Ms Bonnie Glaser, an Asia expert at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, said the trips by Mr Blinken and Mr Austin, and diplomatic efforts such as a planned second summit between Mr Biden and leaders from Japan, India and Australia later in the year, may have China feeling hemmed in.

Dr Evan Medeiros, an Asia specialist in the Obama administration who is now at Georgetown University, said there were no illusions about the tense state of relations, but Mr Wang's willingness to meet Ms Sherman suggested China was taking the talks seriously.

"Ultimately, it's about figuring out what a stable equilibrium in the relationship looks like. That will take time, but you have to be talking to do so," he said.

REUTERS

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on July 26, 2021, with the headline US to stress need for 'guard rails' in talks with China. Subscribe