Beijing, July 7 (EFE) – United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stressed on Friday that Washington is seeking “healthy economic competition” without making any compromises on its national security.
Yellen met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing during a high-stakes visit aimed at easing tensions between the US and China.
“We seek healthy economic competition that is not winner-take-all but that, with a fair set of rules, can benefit both countries over time,” Yellen told Li.
“The United States will, in certain circumstances, need to pursue targeted actions to protect its national security. And we may disagree in these instances.”
Yellen’s trip to China, which will last until Sunday, comes two weeks after Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Beijing in an attempt to defuse tensions.
The Treasury Secretary stated that there are “important global challenges” for both the US and China to cooperate on and demonstrate leadership.
Yellen mentioned that her visit to China follows President Joe Biden’s meeting with President Xi Jinping in Bali in November of last year, which marked their first in-person presidential talks.
She recalled that during the meeting, the two leaders emphasized the need for senior officials from both countries to deepen constructive efforts in terms of macroeconomic stability and addressing shared global challenges.
“I am in Beijing to build on that direction. I recently delivered a speech that laid out the Administration’s economic approach towards China.”
Yellen emphasized that the two countries should not allow any disagreements to result in misunderstandings that “unnecessarily worsen our bilateral economic and financial relationship.”
She said she agreed with Chinese point of view that “differences should not be a cause for estrangement, but a driver for more communication and exchange.”
Yellen hoped that her visit could encourage the establishment of more regular channels of communication between the two countries.
Earlier this year, the US imposed restrictions on the export of American-made semiconductors and materials in order to limit Beijing’s ability to produce components necessary for operating supercomputers and advanced military systems.
In response, Beijing announced on Monday restrictions on the export of gallium and germanium, two crucial metals used in semiconductor manufacturing, further escalating the commercial and technological tensions between the two countries. EFE
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