Another big-name U.S. official is heading to China. First, it was Secretary of State Antony Blinken a few weeks ago, now Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will be making the trip

 
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will be visiting Beijing from July 6-9 to meet with senior Chinese officials on a range of issues, including U.S. concerns over China’s counterespionage laws.

Her’s is the second trip of a high-ranking U.S. official in a matter of weeks, following Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip just weeks ago.

These two trips stand in contrast to the recent diplomatic norm where U.S. officials would be more likely to visit Taiwan, the self-proclaimed independent nation state off the coast of China.

Speaker of the house Kevin McCarthy visited the territory earlier this year, and his predecessor Nancy Pelosi did so in 2022.

Both visits brought strong condemnation from the Chinese government, and Blinken and Yellen’s trips may reflect a change in tactic by Washington to ease tensions between the two countries.

Tensions which have only grown in recent years, in no small part due to China’s stance on Taiwan, which China rejects its claims of independence, regarding it as a rebellious part of the larger country.

Business leaders such as Bill Gates and Elon Musk have also begun making the trip to China as well in recent months.

Bruce Wolpe of the U.S. Studies Centre said Yellen’s trip was part of President Biden’s push to stabilise relations between the two countries as he would not want to inadvertently escalate into a military conflict through poor communication.

He also said it would be a good opportunity for Yellen to gauge the strength of China’s economy, which has slowed ever since battling to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.